Roland and Juliet's Nuzlocke
by Maximumus
Summary: Roland didn't want to be a Pokemon Trainer. He was pulled into it when a friend was attacked and a mysterious mafia-like group rose up. He had no idea what was going on, but the biggest coup ever seen before was slowly unfolded, with Rowan at the heart...
1. The Journey's Beginning

"Despite the exploration team's best efforts, however, the rare, oddly colored Pokémon eluded detection. The rumored red Gyarados failed to appear, even fleetingly, to the crestfallen team…"

Thick with static, the TV show, Search for the Red Gyarados! The Mysterious Appearance of the Furious Pokémon in a Lake!, cut to a quick credits and then commercial. It was over. I turned the television off.

My name is Roland. For all the ten years of my life, I have lived in Twinleaf Town in the Sinnoh region. Twinleaf is the smallest town north of Pallet, the emptiest east of Goldenrod, and the most secluded south of Snowpoint. My best friend, yellow haired, impatient Markus, has been jumping to get out of this town since he was like, three. He is the jumpiest person next to Flannery, the most hyper closest to Misty, and the most ambitious compared to Gary. The furthest he gets from Twinleaf is fishing with me in Lake Verity.

His dream is to be a Pokémon Trainer. I humor him, but I don't think he really can make it. I love Pokémon, don't get me wrong, but battling them… I don't know; it's just never really felt like my forte. I wish the best for him, though.

I walked downstairs and Mum looked up from her program, some Contest thing from Hearthome. "Oh, Roland. Markus came calling for you a little while ago. I don't know what it was about, but he said it was an emergency."

Markus. "Well, you know him, Mum! Can't sit still for five minutes." I nodded and headed for the door. Before I could leave, Mum stopped me.

"Oh, yes! Roland! Don't go into the tall grass. Wild Pokémon might attack you. It would be OK if you had your own Pokémon, but you don't, so…"

I assured her I'd be careful. Before leaving, I grabbed my red hat off a hook by the door. My dad gave it to me before he left us. To be a Pokémon Trainer.

Twinleaf Town's sign, dubbing us a town 'fresh and free', was on the way to Markus's town. I grinned, remembering how Markus always went into a rant whenever we went by it- saying that Twinleaf was anything but free, and how he was a caged bird with no chance to fly. It's annoying after seven years.

I knew something was wrong the moment I hit Markus's front door. He would always see me coming through the window and the door would hit me in the head as he flung it open. Not once in seven years had he failed to thunk me in the head with that door. Not once, until today.

I grabbed the doorknob, and in a puff of soot it fell out of the door. I pushed my way inside to a horrible scene from a disaster movie. The lights were dead, pieces of glass falling from the ceiling fixtures. A potted tree was smashed in the corner, smoldering slightly, soil all over Markus's Mum's precious carpet. The TV was tossed aside carelessly, with a cracked screen.

"Markus?" I yelled. No reply. "Markus!"

"…Roland?" came a groan from the overturned couch. Jumping over the kitchen counter, I raced to where Markus's Mum was sprawled, the couch half on top of her. I shoved it away.

"Mrs. M! Are you okay? What happened?" I cried, grabbing her wrist and feeling her pulse; I placed two fingers on it and desperately searching for the telltale throb.

She coughed. Her hair was still in curlers. Other than some burns on her arms and a swelling bruise on her forehead, I couldn't see any damage, but her leg might be fractured or something from the couch.

"Strange people… in spacesuits… barged in… destroyed the house…"

"Where's Markus?"

"Don't know… Markus said he… Verity Lake…" She coughed again. "Find him, Roland; make sure- make sure he's okay-"

"But Mrs. M, your house-"

"I'll be fine! Find Markus!"

Heart pounding wildly, I jumped up and fled the house. I flew past one of the old people living in town and shouted to him, "There's been an accident in Markus's house!" I didn't stop to see his reaction, I just ran- onto Route 201 and taking a sharp left turn, away from the tall grass. Markus's Mum said he'd gone to Lake Verity; thank Arceus he just wasn't in the house during the attack-

I burst into the Lake Verity area, heart catching in my throat when I saw Markus standing in the tall grass leaning over something. He noticed me and straightened, jumping and waving.

"Hey, Roland!" he called, face excited as always. "Come check this out, look!"

I practically tackled him, tearing into the tall grass despite Mum's warning echoing in my mind. He yelped in surprise, but I had grabbed his shoulders, looked him over.

"Dude- what-"

I shook him, fear for his wellbeing replaced by anger. "Ugh! Man, why did you come out here without me? I can't believe you! I thought you were, like, dead!"

His face was shocked at my reaction. "Dude, what's happened?"

I let go of him, starting to calm down. "I'm sorry, Markus. It's just, your mum. Somebody attacked your house while you were gone!"

Terror locked in his eyes. "What?"

We didn't have any more time for further elaboration. With piercing cries, two Starly burst from the trees. Normally they weren't any problem, just being pigeons. But they charged straight towards us, nothing like the benign birds we were used to, and twice as big.

"The briefcase, Roland," Markus was telling me, but I was paralyzed, unable to move, just staring at the birds coming straight at us. Briefcase? What briefcase? I looked down and saw what Markus was talking about, a brown briefcase hanging open with two Pokéballs rattling in them. The third was already in Markus's hand, and he was chucking it.

I grabbed another at random and threw it as hard as I could. Time seemed to slow down. I watched in perfect clarity as the Pokéball burst open slowly, slowly, slowly, showering red sparks everywhere as a tiny blob of light morphed and took form. A small, blue and white penguin, cute to a degree that I didn't know existed, came forth.

The Pokémon lifted a wing and slammed it down on the bird's head. The Starly let loose a call and wheeled away to collapse in the trees. I stared. The Pokémon's Pokéball flashed and returned it automatically. I was only slightly aware of Markus's doing the same beside me.

Numbly, I stumbled over to the Pokéball and picked it up.

"Wow!" exclaimed Markus, clutching his Pokéball to his chest. "That was- wow!"

"Wow!" I echoed, the numbness leeching away. I looked down at the Pokéball. I had battled. With a real Pokémon. This was… so incredibly unexpected. A Pokémon!

"Your Piplup totally ROCKED!" he was saying. "But my Turtwig was way tougher than yours!" He paused, a look of trouble flickering over his face. "…They were other people's Pokémon, though… but we had to use them… they won't mind, will they?"

"What?" I asked, having not caught all of his mumbling, and still dazed, honestly.

He flinched, straightening up. "Nothing, Roland, nothing!"

Suddenly, a girl appeared beside us, a look of relief washing over her face. She had bluish hair and a knit cap. "Oh! There's the briefcase! The professor would have been furious if I'd lost it…" She froze, gaze locked on the single remaining Pokéball. Her face lost all color, going white as a ghost. "Huh?" She looked around frantically, and spotted the two Pokéballs our hands were curled around. "Oh, no! Did you… did you use the Pokémon in here? You DID? Oh my gosh! What's the professor going to say?" Tears were welling at the corners of her eyes in hysteria. "I'm dead! I am so, so dead!"

"Um… who are you?" I asked, stepping forward. Markus seemed dead to the world, gaze lost in the shiny reflective Pokéball surface. "Are these your Pokémon? We're sorry for using them…"

She sucked in her breath, chewing on a thumbnail and obviously trying to calm herself. "This is so not good...!" She grabbed the briefcase, slammed it closed, and fled the scene.

We were both kind of frozen.

"What was that about?" I wondered out loud, a slight cry in my voice.

"I don't know what's going on," Markus said, and with the way his voice rushed, I suspected he was lying. I didn't have time to consider, 'cause he grabbed my wrist. "Roland, let's get out of here. My Pokémon got hurt from that battle. If we get attacked by another Pokémon, we might be in trouble. And my Mum…"

I didn't need to be persuaded. Before we left, I looked down at my Pokéball. There was something imprinted on the white half of it. Rowan Labs. I shoved it into my pocket.

We scurried away from the lake, heading toward town as fast as we could. But, our paths were blocked. An old man with white hair and beard wearing a blue vest over his dress shirt was muttering irately with the girl from the lake. Suddenly, he noticed us, and his head snapped towards us. I heard Markus's sharp intake of breath beside me.

"Hey, it's those people!" he gasped. "Is that old guy staring at me? Uh-oh, uh-oh!"

The geezer approached us, looking us up and down one by one. "Hmm…" he said, eyes unreadable. His wrinkled, leathery face was stern and disapproving, but you get the sense that it was always like that. "I heard from Dawn that you used our Pokémon? Let me see them, please." Markus hesitated. "Markus," he said dangerously. How did he know Markus's name?

"I'm sorry, Professor," Markus said demurely, bowing his head a little. He was thoroughly cowed. What was up with the new, respectful Markus, and what had he done to the Markus I knew? He quickly handed his Pokéball over, and elbowed me sharply in the ribs until I did the same.

"Hmm…" said the geezer again. "Piplup and Turtwig… hmm…"

"Is 'hmm' all you can say?" I blurted before I could catch myself, the words going straight from brain to mouth.

He looked me over, looming. I thought for a second he was going to explode, but he simply looked me over again, much more thoroughly, taking in every detail. He lingered over my eyes for a long time before a shadow of a smile played at his lips. "I see. That's how it is…" He turned to the girl. "Dawn! I'm going back to my lab!"

Surprise- shock, even- flared up on her face. "W-what? But Professor- the prototypes-"

"Hush, Dawn. Not another word." He turned to me. "You, boy. Visit my lab later. It's in Sandgem." On an afterthought, he said, "Markus, too."

"Um… yes!" Dawn said. "Professor, please wait for me!"

And, without another word, they left, the man striding with Dawn scampering behind.

We watched them until they had gone out of sight. After they were gone, I turned to Markus, marveling. "What was all that craziness about? I mean, if he was angry, he could've just yelled at us, or whatever. And didn't he want their Pokémon back?" I paused. "Markus, how did he know you?"

He ignored me. "Roland… we should go home, too…"

He was right. This wasn't the right time, with his Mum back in that destroyed living room. I nodded, and we went.

-0-

When we got to his house, everybody in Twinleaf- meaning a whopping eleven people, now that we arrived- was around Markus's house. Paramedics and police from Jubilife had already Flown here, but the paramedics were already leaving. They said that Markus's Mum wasn't hurt internally at all and that she'd only have a few bruises, scrapes, and burns. A tear squeezed out of Markus's eye at that, and my Mum plain out started sobbing. After all, they'd been BFFs since they were our age.

Neighbors had been cleaning out Markus's house, and with that many people working it was already spic and span. Mrs. M insisted that nobody had to stay with her, so we all went home, and I finally got to talk to my Mum about all that'd went on at Lake Verity.

"Wow," she said when I was done. "I can't believe that happened to you. Am I ever glad that both you and Markus are unharmed. The professor you mentioned is most likely Professor Rowan of Sandgem Town. I've heard that he is well known for his studies on Pokémon. I hear he's also quite intimidating… he's been abroad for almost four years now, though. I didn't know he'd come back to Sinnoh! Roland, I think you need to visit him in Sandgem Town. You need to properly explain why you had no choice but to use his Pokémon. It's only polite. Don't worry! I'm sure he will understand."

I gave her a very surprised look. _My_ Mum? Telling me to go out with a Pokémon on my own? She was terrified that one day I'd take off like Dad did! But she also didn't want me to spend my life here in Twinleaf. I mean, she already knew that I'd love to work with Kanto Science Lab. She smiled sadly and I gave her a hug.

"I love you, Mum," I said. "I'll be back, don't worry."

I think that's the best thing I could have told her.

Eventually I was out on Route 201, standing in front of the tall grass. I unclipped my- Professor Rowan's- Pokéball and studied it for a long time.

I was nervous! I'd only battled with this Pokémon once, and even then I did pretty much nothing. And I didn't even want to be a Trainer. Of course, even people who weren't Trainers had Pokémon pets to protect them from freak attacks… like those Starly. Taking a breath, I stepped into the grass, and nothing flew out to destroy me. I half expected something would.

I noticed a small, black button on the bottom of the Pokéball, near the Rowan Labs inscription. That's right! I heard that some of those high-tech Pokéballs had a Stats option. I felt a little relieved that I could get to know this Pokémon before charging into the tall grass with it. I stepped back from the tall grass anxiously and pressed the Stats button. A 3D hologram of Piplup was spit out.

"Piplup, zzt. Female. Type, Water. Original Trainer, zzt, Professor Rowan. ID Number 1425 zzt 3. This Piplup has a calm nature. She is zzt thoroughly zzt cunning, and prefers bitter zzt food." The Pokéball fell silent.

Alright, then! I felt better, more secure somehow.

I was attacked by one thing: a Starly. I nearly jumped out of my skin. It wasn't really an attack, even; it just crossed my path. I slammed my Pokéball's button with everything I could, and Piplup sprang out.

"G-Growl?" I offered weakly. She gave me a look and Pounded the Starly into the ground.

"Who are you?" she asked me afterwards.

"My name is Roland… I'm just returning you to Rowan," I said.

She looked surprised, as surprised as a bird could look. Then she sort of crumpled. "Oh." Her gaze turned to daggers. "Fine. Why don't you just return me then? If this is strictly a business transaction."

"Uh, right," I said, doing as she'd suggested.

I couldn't get her final, crestfallen look out of my head.

In Sandgem, Dawn was pacing outside a large white building. She noticed me and ran up. "Oh, there you are! Please, come with me! The professor is waiting!" She took my hand and led me to the building. It had a turquoise roof and, strangely enough, no windows. "This is it! Our Pokémon research lab! Let's go…"

Thud! Before I could react at all, the door flung open and Markus crashed right into me. I groaned, falling back on my behind.

"What the… oh, it's you, Roland!" he exclaimed. "That old guy… he's not so scary as much as he is totally out there! Aw, it doesn't matter, Roland. I'm outta here!" He sped off. I stared at his back as Dawn helped me up.

"Wow, what was that?" she marveled. "Your friend sure seems to be really impatient. Well, anyway… let's go inside."

Everything in there was stark and bare, nothing at all like I'd expected for an important research lab. My vision: tons of flashing doohickeys everywhere, huge PCs, and gigantic Plexiglas tubes. But it was completely empty, with only a white tiled floor, two bookshelves at the back, and a clear refrigerator full of sugary snacks. Sure, everything was very sterilized and clean smelling, but I was sorta disappointed…

We passed two lab aides and went straight to Professor Rowan.

He stared at me wordlessly. Then, "Finally, you've come."

"Um… yeah."

"My name is Rowan," he introduced himself. "However, everyone just calls me the Pokémon Professor. Before I go any further, I must ask you. What is your aim in life?"

I was slightly thrown off. Like, what? "Well, I'm only ten, Professor, sir…"

"But?"

"I have interest in Kanto Science Labs, though. As of now."

He smiled. In his stern face, it looked almost like a smirk. "This world is widely inhabited by creatures named Pokémon. We humans live alongside Pokémon. At times we play together, and at other times we work together. Some people pit their Pokémon against each other in battle."

"What do you do, sir?"

"What do I do?" He smiled again, head lifting somewhat. Shadows fell over his face, and only his eyes glistened out. "I conduct… research, so that we may learn more about Pokémon." The moment passed. "Now, why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself? Tell me, what is your name?"

"Roland," I answered.

"OK… so you're Roland. A fine name that is! I have a suggestion for you, boy," said the professor. "Forget Kanto Science Labs for your future. Work here."

I was shocked and couldn't answer.

"Roland. Let me see your Pokémon again."

Mouth slightly agape, I scrambled to do his bidding, aware of his impatience. I handed him the Pokéball and he released the Piplup. She shrank back from him, but he ignored it, grabbing her under the wings and looking her over, even turning her upside down. Then, hands arranged so that I couldn't quite see what he was looking at, he stared intently at a spot on her lower back.

"I hope I haven't, um, hurt her or anything…" I said.

"Hmm…" he said. I stifled a snort. "I see…" Then he looked up, startled, as if having forgotten my presence. "Oh, um, this Pokémon seems to be rather happy. All righty then! I'll give that Piplup to you as a gift." And he shoved it back into my hands. Ignoring my stammers, mixed thanks and protest, he nodded briskly. "Now that it's yours, how about a name?"

I glanced up at him for permission, and he nodded. I crouched and set the- _my_- Piplup down on the ground.

"Hi there," I said in the soft voice reserved for babies and wild animals. "I need to name you now."

"Really?"She puffed her chest out comically, making me grin. "Well, make it something good!"

"So… how does Abby sound?" She quirked an eyebrow. "Okay, maybe not. How about... Roxanne? Marianna? Gia? Christine?" None of them stuck. Then, inspiration stuck me. Time seemed to slow again, and I saw the wonderment spread across her face as I asked, "How about… _Max?_"

After a long moment, she said, "Nah."

"You're right, that's a tacky name." I gave a long sigh. "You're too picky!"

"No, I'm not. This is my name, after all."

"You're right, sorry. Um…" I sucked in my breath, twiddled my thumbs. Rowan reminded me that he'd like it to be sometime soon, please.

"Juliet," I said. And Piplup looked pleased.

"Roland and Juliet," she said. I smiled.

"You may return the Pokémon, please," Rowan instructed. I clicked the button and she was sucked back in. "Your friend Markus told me what happened at the lake. I heard you battled very well, despite it being your first time. That's why I would like to… _entrust_ you with that Piplup. Er-hem! Let's move on to the main topic, anyway."

"That's wasn't it already?" I deadpanned nervously.

"There is something I want you to do for me, if you want to keep that Piplup," he said. I nodded.

"Sure, a condition. Tell me what it is," I urged.

"Monitor her actions, and if she does anything strange, tell me," he said. I would have laughed at how easy it was, except for how stern, how grim his face was.

I nodded. "Yeah, of course, Professor."

"There is another 'condition', as you aptly put it, Roland," Professor Rowan said. "First of all, I want to know exactly what kinds of Pokémon live in the Sinnoh region. To do so, it is necessary to collect… data using the Pokédex. This is what I wish to ask of you. I want to entrust you with this Pokédex. Will you use it to record data on all the Pokémon in Sinnoh for me? You must be very careful to point it at every Pokémon you see so it can record this data for me."

"Of course I will, Professor!"

"Hm! Good answer! That Pokédex is a very high-tech device. It will automatically record data on every kind of Pokémon you encounter. Roland, I ask that you go everywhere and meet every kind of Pokémon in this region!"

"I've got one, too!" Dawn chirped.

"When you walked up to Route 201 with you Pokémon, what did you feel?" inquired the professor, head tilting. "Now, you should know that there are countless Pokémon in this world. That means that it may be a year or more before you finish this task for me. But when you are done, or have scoured the land for every Pokémon you can find, come back. There will be a place in this research lab for you. You will have to battle on occasion, battle hot-headed Trainers who ignore your protests. That is good. Your Pokémon will grow so you may go to even more places. You will catch more Pokémon to aid you in your journey. And by battling, you will get to see other Trainers' Pokémon, sometimes Pokémon that are very rare or extinct in Sinnoh. Now go! Roland, your grand adventure begins right now!"

Dramatic, much? Dawn turned to me. "Anyways, I'm Dawn. I also help the professor add pages to the Pokédex. So, in a sense, I'm just like you. I just got a little head start on you, that's all. I'll be happy to teach you things. Glad to meet you, Roland!"

"Yeah, and you too," I said, a shy smile tugging at my lips. She was really pretty.

She gave me a little tour around Sandgem Town, pointing out the Pokémon Center and the Pokémart. Then she insisted that she had to get back to the lab and left, giving me a slip of paper with instructions on how to catch Pokémon before she did so.

I pulled my Pokéball out of my pocket and looked down at it. From inside the clear frame, Juliet looked up at me. For a water Pokémon, her eyes sure were fiery with determination.

"A Pokémon research lab," I said out loud, imagining myself in a white coat.

I could get used to this battling thing.


	2. Where Two or More Gather

Morning came fast for me. I spent the night at my house, with Mum excited for me, and way more accepting than I'd thought she would be. When I woke up, Markus's Mum was in the living room, worried. Apparently Markus had shouted something about going on an adventure and had bolted. I don't doubt it. Not just because he is impatient, but 'cause it is good strategy. His Mum woulda never let him go.

"I'll bring 'im back, Mrs. M," I offered.

"You will?" She looked so relieved that when she grabbed my hands and said, "Promise?" I could only say, "Yes ma'am."

I hugged Mum about three more times and Mrs. M just as many. Then I grabbed my Bag, which Mum had packed and repacked probably fifteen times since last night, and was on my way.

It was still dawn, so the first Pokémon I ran into was a Zubat. I threw my Pokéball, and that familiar spray of red sparks released Juliet, the Piplup. Juliet, _my_ Piplup.

"Use Pound," I said, already knowing how she felt about Growl. Well, she did as I asked, but the Zubat was still barely hurt. "What?" It swooped around, a life-sucking needle spitting out. "Dodge it, Juliet!"

Piplups weren't known for their speed, and in an instant I knew that she wouldn't make it in time. In sudden panic, I dived and pushed her out of the way, the Leech Life catching my sleeve but not hurting me. The Zubat fluttered off. Juliet was staring up at my in pure surprise, and I suddenly knew I'd done something wrong or unexpected or something.

"You jumped in front of that attack!" she cried.

"Um… sorry?"

She blinked, her tiny beak opening and closing. "You shouldn't be _sorry_, it's just, that's very strange!"

"I know… sorry." I rolled off her. "I just didn't want you to get hurt."

"Strange Trainer," she said, though smiling a little while standing up and brushing herself off with her wings.

"I'm not, really," I confessed. "I'm doing a favor for Professor Rowan… I promised to travel with you and catch other Pokémon too, being a Pokémon Trainer until I can finish a favor for him."

"Then what happens to me?" she asked, showing vulnerability that made me feel a lot better, actually. With her calm nature and thoroughly cunning attribute, I was afraid she would be all cool and frosty.

"You're mine. I won't get rid of you," I promised. When I held up her Pokéball, Juliet sighed.

"Can I ask you a question, Roland?" she asked me.

"Sure, of course!"

"Could I stay out of my Pokéball? I don't like it at all. I have claustrophobia."

"Sure, of course," I said again, warmness trickling over me. I grinned at her. "Think you could fit on my shoulder?"

This time it was her who said, "Sure, of course!"

Juliet rode on my shoulder to Sandgem, and on to the next Route. She was remarkably dense and heavy, and her texture felt amazing. Even though she was not greasy, and it didn't come off on my hands, I could feel the waterproof oil on her silky, shiny feathers. Her wings felt like tires with a coating of feathers. And how beautiful she was! Hundreds of shades of blue, to the palest shade that was almost white to the deepest royal hue, all rippling and glimmering in the sun. Who needed a shiny? She was the cutest thing I'd ever seen.

"You're adorable, you know that?" I laughed after she took out, like, her fifteenth Shinx.

She dipped her chin almost to her chest, not doing a very good job of hiding the flush of pleasure. "Why, thank you." She ran a few feathers through her beak, preening conceitedly.

We slept at the Pokémon Center and went on our way. I could see Jubilife's skyline, and even what I saw above the trees had me amazed. I'd never been in a town so big before. I'd been to Sandgem when I broke my leg once, but never any farther. I told Juliet about that, and all about Twinleaf Town.

"Sounds nice," she said almost wistfully. "Living in a town that little, I mean. You know everyone and nothing ever changes."

"Yeah," I said, thinking of Markus and how he resented it so much. "It really is." Thinking about how good we had it, I was determined to get him home to his Mum.

"It's heartless to leave her after she's been attacked, for the love of Arceus!" I cried angrily. "She's probably traumatized!"

"We'll bring him back," Juliet assured.

We would. We showed up at Jubilife City, the City of Joy, but we weren't the first to get there.

"Hi, Roland!" exclaimed Dawn, bouncing up to me. She frowned at the single Pokéball bulging in my pocket. "Um, you ought to catch more Pokémon. You'll feel much safer like that! And it's useful to your Pokédex entries to catch them!"

"I've been working on the Pokédex," I protested, eager to show that I'd been doing something right. "I have six entries already. Your Chimchar, Juliet here, Zubat, Bidoof, Starly, and Shinx."

"That's every Pokémon you could have seen in the Routes yet," she admitted. "Except, of course, the sea Pokémon from Sandgem Town's beach. But your Piplup is too small to Surf on anyway, so that's alright. You should check out the Pokémon Trainer's School. Markus is there already, and you can pick up some good tips!" With that, she flounced off.

"Pokémon Trainer's School! Let's go before he leaves!" Juliet said. I nodded, determined. We ran through Jubilife, and despite the winding streets and alleys, we found the Trainer's School easily. I burst in and, to my relief, spotted him studying the blackboard.

He turned. "Roland! Have you gotten stronger? I'm memorizing everything on the board. You should, too. You're not much of a Trainer, after all." Conceited, he puffed out his chest. "I, on the other hand…"

"Am going home," I finished firmly, grabbing his elbow and dragging him toward the door. "Come on, Markus, let's get you back to Twinleaf."

"What? No!" He yanked back. "I'm going to be a Pokémon master! No, the Champion! My Turtwig and I, Salad and I, we're bonded! And I've got another Pokémon, it's a Starly-"

"Wait, wait, _wait_," I interrupted, staring at him in disbelief. "You named your Turtwig Salad? Who does that?"

"Never mind that, Roland!" he groaned in exasperation. He looked intently into my eyes. "Come on. Just 'cause you're not made of Pokémon Trainer stuff doesn't mean that I'm not! Roland. Roland, look at me. This is what I am made to be, Roland, this is what I'm made to _do_."

"Your mother-" began Juliet, but Markus clamped her beak shut.

"Shh, small Arctic bird," he whispered. "Shh." He let go of a very disturbed looking penguin and left the building.

"Um. Well," Juliet stammered, uncertain as to how she should react.

"Yup. He's a gem," I agreed, looking at the door he'd left through and sighing. Typical Markus.

Dawn's words echoed in my mind as I entered the Route above Jubilife. _Um, you ought to catch more Pokémon._

"If I'm going to be battling, do you think I should catch more Pokémon?" I wondered out loud to Juliet, still riding on my shoulder.

Juliet hopped to the ground, losing her balance and falling on her tummy. She picked herself up and waddled to face me. She lifted a flipper and gave a very knowledgeable look. "Here are the basics of being a Pokémon Trainer: Pokémon are to be caught using Pokéballs. Up to six Pokémon can accompany a Trainer. A Trainer is someone who catches Pokémon, raises them, and battles with them. A Trainer's mission is to defeat the strong Trainers who await challengers in Pokémon Gyms."

"Pokémon Gyms? I have to take the League challenge for this?"

"Well, no," Juliet admitted, stopping her stroking an imaginary beard. "But you'll be considered a total noob if you don't have at least one Badge! Some Trainers even refuse to fight you unless you're at their speed."

I looked around the Route. There were a few Trainers, but since most Trainers don't fight the same enemy twice, I avoided them to save for later. "Hey, look, a cave!" I exclaimed, pointing it out. "Good for catching 'mons, right?"

"You can find exotic Pokémon from as far as Kanto in caves, yes," said Juliet. "Their strength is to be determined, though. Some Geodude. Hundreds of Zubat. The occasional Cleffa or Psyduck. Of course, you don't need a Psyduck 'cause you have me." She looked at me proudly. I grinned, thinking about how self absorbed the little penguin was. She was right, of course, which made it even funnier.

We went into the cave, which according to my freshly purchased Town Map was called the Ravaged Path. Funny name for something so pretty. And I immediately found a Pokémon… a Geodudette, pretending to be a boulder in the corner.

I squealed like a little girl.

"''TMESSTHISUPEEK!"

Juliet laughed awkwardly. "Uh, Roland, calm down. There are a million Geodude just like her."

I stopped my hyperventilating to look at her, surprised, then smug. "Well, there's one thing I know that you don't, Miss Smarty-Pants. It's the Sinnoh Wildlife Protection Act. It was passed before I was born. Trainers can only catch one Pokémon from every Route, the first one they find. That's why I can't screw this up!"

Juliet frowned. "Why only the first Pokémon?"

"Because just one Pokémon per Route wouldn't stop people from only depleting the rare 'mons. Getting only the first Pokémon in every Route means that the rare Pokémon will have a better chance," I explained. "It's all up to luck what you get, but it helps people appreciate the more common Pokémon for what they are."

"I guess that makes sense…" mumbled Juliet, her eyes rather troubled. "Can we just catch this Pokémon before it gets away?"

Right. "Okay, get at it, Juliet!" I exclaimed. "Use Pound. Bubble is 4x super effective, so avoid that so we don't make it faint. Geodude is a dual rock and ground type, I think."

Juliet didn't keep up the chat. She waddled at the Geodude as fast as she could, and shoved into it with her shoulder. The Geodudette gave a startled yell and first tried to get away, but Juliet blocked her path, kicking gravel into her eyes. Now the Geodudette Tackled Juliet, but Juliet managed to swing her around and slam her into the wall.

"Now, Roland!" I whispered to myself, heart pounding as I chucked the Pokéball.

Flash! Sparks! Ding, ding, ding… click.

I stared for a moment. Juliet stared for a moment. Then we both erupted in raucous cries of victory. "I did it! I did it!" I yelled, throat raw. It felt like it had a lump in it.

"I did it!" Juliet shouted, jumping in little circles and pumping her wings- flippers?- in the air. "We did it!"

"We did it!" I ran forward, scooping up Juliet under my arm and grabbing the Pokéball in my free hand. I plunked down right on the cave floor, criss-cross applesauce, and pressed the Stats button. A 3D hologram of my new friend popped up.

"Geodude, zzt," said the Pokéball. "Female. Type, zzt, dual rock zzt and ground. Original Trainer, Roland. Zzt. ID number 14 zzt 253. This Geodudette has an impish nature. She is mischievous zzt and zzt likes zzt sour food zzt. Nickname?"

"Yes, you must name her," Juliet said.

I stared hard into the Pokéball, where my Geodudette was looking back up at me through the translucent metal. "Welcome to the team… Mandy." I pressed the button.

"Mandy?" asked my Geodudette, tilting her head, which was really her whole body. "That's what we're going with here?"

Juliet hopped over to Mandy curiously, twittering, "Hi! My name is Juliet. It's nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine," Mandy said, nodding to the Piplup. She looked up at me. "I guess you're my Trainer now, huh?"

"Guess so," I said, extending a hand. "The name is Roland. I'm ten. I'm working as a Trainer for a short time on a favor for Rowan Labs."

"Well, I guess we'll be working together for a while, Roland!" Mandy shook my hand. She felt cold and gravelly. I grinned ear to ear. _The first Pokémon I ever caught._

And it wasn't long before I caught the second.

Mandy smirked up at me, pleased, on the next sunrise. I hadn't seen any Pokémon in Route 204, the Route just above Jubilife City that led to the Ravaged Path, the previous day. So I returned there, and the first thing I saw was a Kricketot diving for cover. It wasn't fast enough for Mandy, though, who was walking outside with me along with Juliet in the dew-covered tall grass. After Tackling it dizzy, I threw the Pokéball. I now had three team members. And we welcomed our new teammate, Natalie- 'brave nature, zzt, loves to eat, zzt, likes bitter food'- warmly into our family. She could make beautiful music by clacking her antennae together like xylophones.

Natalie was hell to train, honestly.

I'm a bad Trainer, I'll admit it. Or, I'm a new Trainer, not bad, as Juliet, Mandy, and Natalie insist. But Natalie only knew Growl and Bide, and as much as I raised her, she couldn't learn any new moves. I paired her with Mandy to train, but neither of them grew much from it. I received TM10 from the Trainer's School, where I spent hours yesterday, and taught it to her. Hidden Power made it easier to train her, but when I first ventured into the Route right of Jubilife and heading to Oreburgh the evening I caught her, she still hadn't learned anything new.

I ran into Markus. He was peering around into the sky, probably looking for some Starly.

"Markus!" I yelled, running up to him. He wouldn't get away this time!

He saw me. "Roland! Stop!" I stopped in front of him. What did I expect to do, drag him all the way home? "Let's make a deal! I've gotten way tougher, you don't understand- I am meant to do this! So if I can't beat you, I'll go home, and if I can, you'll stop pursuing me!"

I felt the weight of Mandy and Natalie's Pokéballs in my pocket. I turned my head and saw Juliet on my shoulder. I smiled evilly. "You're on!"

He had two Pokémon. He sent out a Starly first. Mandy would be the obvious choice for me, with her move Rock Throw, but at this point she was stronger than Juliet, so Juliet needed the experience. I literally tossed my starter Pokémon in.

"Use Bubble!" I ordered. And in only two Bubbles, with the enemy's Growl in between- dumb, really, since Bubble was a special attack move- Starly passed out. I didn't believe in fighting to the death, so I let Markus return it. He threw out his MVP, his finisher, Salad the Turtwig.

Alright, time to change 'mons. I motioned Juliet back and sent out Natalie. She still didn't know any bug moves, and I wasn't really sure what type her Hidden Power was, but it was super effective on Budew, so I figured it would do the same here. I was right. Turtwig keeled over after one attack.  
>Markus absolutely died. "Waa! I lost? Well, that's it! That's the last time I'll ever lose! I'm going to be the world's toughest Trainer, and you know it! The first thing to do is take on the Oreburgh City Pokémon Gym! I'm gonna toughen up for that, totally!"<p>

And then he ran off.

"Aghh! We had a DEAL!" I shouted, shaking my fist. But of course, Markus didn't come back, ducking into the tunnel that headed to Oreburgh.

"Wow~. Gem of a best friend you have, there~," Natalie remarked. Juliet snorted, since that was exactly what she had said.

I patted my full pockets. "Yeah, yeah, I know."

Suddenly, Natalie spun around and vomited. I gasped, running to her side. "Natalie- are you okay?"

"No~! I feel so horrible, suddenly~!" She barfed again and doubled over, clutching her midriff, tears dripping from her eyes. Concerned, I cradled her in my hands and brought her back to the Pokémon Center, where she got washed off and checked up on, although they could find nothing wrong with her. But, grinning conspiratorially, the Nurse Joy on duty said it may not be what I thought it was.

All night Natalie was in a cold sweat, groaning, and Ibuprofen and Tylenol didn't help at all. I was shocked when I noticed tiny glitterings over her every minute or so, and each time her coloring seemed to change just a little, or a limb lengthen and shift back just a little bit.

Accidentally I fell asleep, and the next morning, I mumbled a bleary "Good morning, girls" before I jolted up in shock.

"You were evolving that whole time!" I cried, giddy with joy, unable to hold back a tear. I dropped to my knees and practically squeezed my new Kricketune to death. She was very delighted, but hid it behind a slightly goofy grin. Of course she didn't learn any new moves. That would be way too easy.

Natalie was clumsy in her new form, but she got more used to it as the day progressed. We battled through Route 203 and through a cave, where we ended up in Oreburgh. On the way, Natalie learned Leech Life, OH ARCEUS, YES! I also found the Gym, where- you guessed it- Markus was hanging out. I didn't get much time to persuade him. He spurted some rubbish about why he ran off and… ran off. Somewhere in his babbled speech I picked up that the Oreburgh Gym Leader wasn't there, and that he already had his Badge.

"Dang it!" I snarled, kicking some coal as I slouched into Oreburgh Mine. "I can't believe he beat me to it!"

"What's the big deal?"wondered Mandy, coming alongside me. She was out because I figured she was the expert on subterranean places.

I shrugged moodily. "I dunno… it's just, he's my best friend, y'know? I want to beat him!"

At the back of the mines, I found Oreburgh's Gym Leader, Roark, smashing rocks with a prehistoric Pokémon. I ran up.

"Hey, Roark!" I said, too angry to be polite. "How come you're not at the Gym?"

He looked at me, rather affronted. "What?"

"I want to challenge you! And you weren't at the Gym! What kind of Gym Leader does that?" I demanded, even though I was beginning to cool down.

"You're being extremely rude," Roark said, frowning at me. "If you must know, I'm here because people in spacesuits have been breaking into the mines and stealing Pokémon. Breaking the Wildlife Act, you know." Spacesuits? Well, that sounded like what Markus's Mum- "But, if you insist on battling me, I will defeat you right here and now!"

I was surprised when he threw out a Pokéball, but immediately reassured myself. "Alright, go, Natalie!" She burst from her ball.

Roark smirked. "A bug type? That's pathetic. Use Rock Slide, Geodude."

I ignored him, and said to Natalie, "Just as we practiced, Natalie. Use Sing first!"

Natalie grinned chillingly and placed one of her bow-like arms over the other, violinist style. Then she began to pull it back and forth, creating a beautiful noise. Her antennae clacked together like a xylophone, and the Geodude stopped in its tracks, mesmerized despite Roark yelling at it not to be fooled. Then Natalie opened her mouth and sang:

"Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices, O night divine, O night when Christ was born…"

I smiled nostalgically at the old Christmas carol, remembering the Twinleaf church choir singing it on Christmas Eve, and at the Geodude who was gently being rocked to sleep, despite all Roark's yelling. Still playing her violin and xylophone Natalie looked up at me. I nodded, but placing a finger on my lips: hush.

She struck a foul chord on her violin arms and whipped out a wave of Hidden Power. Despite being harmed, Geodude was still asleep, and it was still asleep two Hidden Powers and a Leech Life later. Scowling, Roark returned it.

"Well, you won't go through this one so easily!" he said triumphantly, releasing an Onix. Natalie gaped.

"Don't worry, Nat, I won't send you against that," I said, motioning out Juliet. I returned a grateful Kricketune to her Pokéball, and by the time I looked up, the Onix had fainted from a single Bubble. Shocked, Roark struggled to control his face and gave a knowing grin.

"I usually don't have to use him, but here come the one and the only, Cranidos!" The Pokémon that had been working on mining perked at its name, and with a roar, ran out to the battle field. It tossed its head, stomped its feet, and snorted.

Well, ouch. I had Mandy go out to the field, and Juliet returned to my side.

"Headbutt!" Roark yelled.

"Magnitude!" I did the same. Mandy let out a war cry- before releasing a Magnitude 9.

Cranidos was knocked out immediately, as was Juliet and Natalie. Roark and I were knocked down, Roark to his knees and me to my stomach. Cold rocks dug into my chin and my body. I winced, trying to pick myself up slow enough not to aggravate any wounds, but the whole place was shaking. I heard several booms off in the distance.

"Get out! Get out!" I heard people shouting in the tunnels. "The mine is collapsing!"

"Hurry up, you moron," Roark roared, grabbing me under my armpits and dragging me to my feet, pulling me towards the entrance. I yanked away.

"My Pokémon!" I screamed, only able to run three steps towards Juliet and Natalie's crumpled forms before Roark dragged me back.

"No time!" he said, but I managed to pull out their Pokéballs and get them back in milliseconds before a huge , pointy rock fell where they had been. Still shell shocked, Roark half dragged me out of the mine before it had been completely destroyed.

"Darkrai," Roark cursed once we were out.

I was shocked. "Watch your language!"

He threw an arm out toward the destroyed mine. "This is a disaster! My whole mine is gone!"

"…Sorry," I muttered, scuffing my Running Shoes in the dirt.

"It wasn't you," he said, frowning furiously at the mine. "Didn't you hear the explosions? If I were to bed, I'd put my money that it was those people…"

"The ones in spacesuits?" I asked. He nodded. "People in spacesuits attacked Twinleaf only three days ago!"

"That's bad" Roark sighed. I agreed. He walked over to me and took my hand. "But for now, you beat me fair and square. Here it is." He placed a small metal pin in my hand. "I can't believe you beat me, but that's tough. You were strong, and I was weak. That's all there is. According to Pokémon League rules, I have to give you our Gym Badge since you've beaten me, the Leader. Here's your official Pokémon League Coal Badge. Congrats, you can use Rock Smash. Enjoy it. Now get out of here so we can start going through this rubble." And I did so.

My Pokémon almost died today. My Pokémon almost _died_ today! They could have died; I could have killed them… I now remembered why I never wanted to be a Trainer. There was too much stress, too much danger. What if one of them had died? What would I have done then? I let out a long sigh, just waiting for the Nurse Joy to call me up to pick them up.

After I had, I let Juliet walk beside me again and started to cheer up. Like she pointed out, the important thing was that they _hadn't_ died. They were okay and not hurt at all. In fact-

Thud! I was smacked onto the ground for the second time today, and I immediately knew who had done it.

"Markus!" I shouted angrily, picking myself up and brushing coal dust off myself.

"Oh, hey, Roland!" he exclaimed, waving excitedly despite my being only a foot or two away. "Eterna City is the next place with a Gym that gives away Badges, right?" He glanced back toward the town. "So, yeah, I went to Route 207, but I can't get up that slope without a Bicycle. I made my team battle and toughened them up, so it wasn't a waste." He turned back to me. "So, I'm going back to Jubilife City. Next stop, the Eterna Gym Badge! Ten seconds before I dash! Nine… bah! Who's got time to count?" I yelped in surprise, barely jumping aside before he darted past me.

I groaned, smacking myself in the forehead. Juliet snickered. "You didn't even get one word in edgewise, there, Mr. Smooth," she said. I rolled my eyes.

So, Jubilife? If Markus was going back there, then so was I. Here, I had registered Onix, Cranidos, and Machop. In Jubilife, I'd gotten Markus's Turtwig, Abra, Magikarp, Psyduck, and Budew. Geodude, Kricketot, and Kricketune were in my Dex already. That meant I had sixteen Pokémon already in my Pokédex! You better have a spot ready for me like you said, Professor, because I'll be coming your way in no time!


	3. The Bad Guys Win

"I love this!" I cried delightedly, holding out my wrist and admiring the way my new shiny Pokétch glistened in the Jubilife City neon lights.

"Let me see! Let me see! Let me see!" Juliet was yelling, so I grinned and kneeled, modeling it for her. It had a plastic design of my favorite color, blue. It was the new Pokétch boys' model, hot off the factory, state-of-the-art. And the best thing was, I was the only person in the world who had it. It would go on sale in half a month, and I only had it because I was the one who won the battle tournament promotion that the Pokétch Company had hosted.

"And congratulations to our winner, Roland of Twinleaf!" shouted the MC. The four or five people who had stopped to watch on the street applauded and drifted off. The battle stage was taken down. The paid Pokétch Company clowns went off to switch shifts. All remnants of my victory had gone.

I was about to head to the Pokémon Center, since Juliet and Natalie were in the yellow, but I noticed someone near the road to the Ravaged Path. Professor Rowan and Dawn were standing by some people who were wearing weird, outlandish outfits. I went toward them. The strangers jumped when they saw me, quickly taking on scowls. One of them grabbed Dawn's arm roughly.

The professor looked up. "Ah, Roland, impeccable timing as always. These miscreants are babbling utter nonsense that I just can't stomach. Show them some manners, if you will."

"Oh, Professor Pokémon, must you be so difficult?" asked the man who grabbed Dawn. "We are approaching you strictly as businessmen. All you must do is provide us with all your research findings. In return, we'll refrain from doing massive damage to your assistant."

"Roland!" said Dawn, struggling and prying at his fingers, but he clamped both her arms behind her back firmly. "Battle and teach these horrible men a lesson!"

Juliet and Natalie were hurt, which left my little toughie, Mandy. I sent her out, and the men grinned and unleashed their Pokémon, a Glameow and Zubat. I frowned and motioned Juliet in. It was a short battle, but so intense. The space men had no chance, actually, but the thought that Dawn was in peril made me hold my breath the whole time, terrified.

The first grunt cried out. "What is this madness? The two of us losing to a child…"

"This will do. Time to retreat," the second said pertly, shoving Dawn back towards us. "This mission is a success. It had been quite… educational. Because Team Galactic is benevolent to all, we will leave." Then they turned tail and fled into the Ravaged Path.

I raced to Dawn's side. "Dawn! Are you okay? Are you alright?" I took hold of her shoulders and looked her up and down. When she said she would only have a few arm bruises, I was relieved and turned to Professor Rowan. "Who were they, Professor?"

"That lot…" he said. "They call themselves Team Galactic. You see, when Pokémon evolve, they seem to release some type of energy. However, I believe it is a mystic power far beyond our control. But Team Galactic seems to be trying to use that power for something. Anyway, Roland, well done. You battle quite capably…" He trailed off, seemingly lost in thought. After ten seconds he shook his head and continued, "The sight of you, Trainers and Pokémon battling together… I made the right decision, entrusting you with a Pokédex."

"Thank you, sir," I said. Then I said, "Pokémon evolution… my Pokémon evolved, you know. She's a Kricketune now instead of a Kricketot."

"Really? Congratulations!" Dawn exclaimed. "You know, statistics say that about 90% of all Pokémon are somehow tied to evolution! I guess that means some Pokémon must undergo startling evolutions." She paused. "Did you know that Professor Rowan studies Pokémon evo-"

"So, Roland," interrupted the professor and giving Dawn's shoulder a warning squeeze. "Keep working on your Pokédex project for me, and hurry back to the lab when you're done! Let's go, Dawn." She waved goodbye as they went.

I sighed with a dreamy smile. Juliet wriggled her eyebrows at me. I snorted, giving her a light shove with the side of my foot.

A man ran up to me, practically jumping up and down. "That was amazing! Wow! WOW! Thank you for letting me see such a great battle! In fact, let me give you this!" He shoved some sort of jewelry box into my hands. "I am with Jubilife TV! Stop by our studio any time! You'll be welcome there always!" I had just enough time to yelp my thanks before he scurried off again.

Mandy gasped when she saw the box. "A Fashion Case! Eek!"

"This is a Fashion Case?" I looked at it with new appreciation. "Wow! These are so handy for Contests! I can't wait to get to Hearthome!"

Both Mandy and Juliet gave me incredulous looks.

"_You_ like Contests?" asked Mandy.

I went defensive. "Well, my mom is a famous competitor, and so we watched a lot of them. Before I wanted to be a scientist, I wanted to be just like my mom."

"Well, let's go to Jubilife TV!" said Juliet, clapping her flippers. I grinned, picking her up and blowing into her stomach.

"You are CUTE!" I told her as I returned Mandy and placed her on my shoulder.

We easily found the building, it being the largest in Jubilife. Grinning foolishly, we walked inside, all of my Pokémon out of their balls. I walked to the front desk, where a smiling woman offered me a lotto ticket. It was free, so I took it, but I lost. No big deal, although Natalie was very disappointed.

"Floor one, battle corner and lotto, two, records station, three, fashion studio, and four, director's office," read Juliet off a sign.

"Third floor," Mandy and Natalie agreed. They were all so excited, glee sparkling in their eyes, like kids in a candy shop. I laughed and said, "Okay, okay!" We headed up the stairs.

On the third floor, a big, burly man was standing in front of a door with a sign over it: dressing room. "Are you here to dress up your Pokémon?" he squealed in an extremely girly voice. "Tee hee! Please dress them up adorably!" He stepped aside for us, but when I tried to follow Mandy, Natalie, and Juliet in, they turned and stared at me.

"We're _girls_, Roland. You can't come in here with us!" said Juliet, ogling like it was obvious, as if they didn't walk around naked all the time. I apologized and stepped back. Being girls, they took almost forty-five minutes in there. I sat out with the Jubilife TV man, and he gave me some hot tea in a thermos.

My head jerked up from my conversation when I heard Natalie call, "We're ready~! We're coming out now~!"

First strode out a very proud Natalie, looking like an elegant old-timey movie star with a huge boa made of fluffy pieces strung together. She had a flower tucked between her antennae. I cheered. She laughed bashfully and copied the noise. Then waddled out coy Juliet, wearing a piece of pink fluff and a headdress of feathers. I applauded.

Lastly, a very glum looking Mandy exited the dress up room. She had a few wayward strands of ripped fluff caught in her crags, but was otherwise unadorned. When she looked up at my perplexed face, she blinked away tears.

"Aw, Mandy," I said, scooting over to her and pulling her onto my lap, despite her weight nearly crushing my legs. "What's wrong?"

She wiped away her tears, although the rock around her eyes was still red-tinged. "It's nothing. Just, I don't have many f-features, and I don't look very girly… even when I evolve, nothing will change. All the Accessories just look d-dumb on me, and I rip the fluff when I try to put it on." Angrily, she pulled at a strand of fluff.

"Oh, come on," I said, putting her down and standing up. "There has to be something in there that will work on you!" I retrieved the Fashion Case and looked through everything, but I couldn't find a thing that would look becoming on that bulky, lumpy body.

"See?" Mandy said gloomily, sighing.

A metaphoric light bulb went off over my head. I'm so clever! "You just give me a second, Mandy!" I dived into the Fashion Case, rummaged around, and claimed a Piplup mask.

Mandy had to laugh, even though it was sadly, as if she should have known better to tell a boy about her fashion concern. "Uh, no, Roland."

"I'm a Contest expert, remember? Gimme a chance!" I took the mask and yanked the red ribbon off it. I kneeled in front of Mandy and affixed it as a bow on her head. She looked to Juliet and Natalie. They shrieked and squealed as only girls can. She looked in the mirror and grinned broadly.

I gave her a playful shake. "You freaked me out there. You're a toughie; who knew you had a _girly_ side?" I said it with such disdain that the girls laughed. "Hey, come on, I'm a ten year old boy! I can't be a super scientist all the time!"

Next was the photo shoot, which I knew was the main attraction. They got to strut it, be divas, and pretend to be their favorite Pokéstars on an authentic red carpet while the TV man showed his aptitude with a camera, yelling things like, "Work it!" and "Attitude!" Honestly, the last thing my girls need is more attitude, but who am I to judge? There were three backgrounds to choose from. Juliet preferred a shot that looked like a blizzard in front of a log cabin with candlelight glowing from the windows, while Natalie liked a cheery forest scene, and Mandy went with a single Pokéball on a background of blue stripes.

"The photos will be ready in a few days," we were told. "We know you're a Pokémon Trainer and you travel, so we'll just file them away until you get the opportunity to come back."

The girls got out of their outfits, but Mandy decided to keep the bow permanently to add some feminine nuance to her look. After they were done, Natalie asked me, "We've done what we want; now it's your turn~. What do you want to do~?"

I had an immediate answer. "There's a Group Center somewhere around here. I've seen it on the news. I want to join a Group!"

"Well, alright then," said Juliet. We got instructions from the lotto lady on the first floor. The Group Center was just across the street! We headed over to the stall, and I signed up to be a part of the Rowan Labs Group. Updates would be sent daily to my Pokétch, so I'd be up to date on what interested me.

"I guess it's time to go," I said. They surprised me by not getting too upset. It had been a nice break, but it was time to get moving. "And the next stop is… Floaroma Town! Right at the end of the Ravaged Path."

"Sweet, a little trip home," Mandy said, which made me laugh. I returned Natalie and Mandy to their Pokéballs, Juliet climbed on my shoulder, and we set off.

"It's dark in here," I grumbled after hitting my head on a stalactite. "Are you sure we're going the right way?"

"Yes, Roland," Juliet answered, exasperated. "I can read the Map too, you know! Hey, is that light over there? Yeah, it is; there's the exit! Sweet!" She carefully slid down my arm and dropped to the ground. "Come on, let's go!" I ran after her, laughing.

I blinked as we burst into the sunlight. My nostrils flared at the aromatic scent of thousands of flowers that dotted the countryside. Darting around Trainers, we grabbed a discarded TM of Bullet Seed and entered picturesque Floaroma.

"This is just gorgeous!" laughed Juliet, the day lilies even taller than she was.

Our admiration ended when a little girl ran up to me, tackling my leg and shouting, "Papa!"

"Uh, I don't know you," I said, trying to shake her off. She looked up at my face, and I watched her expression drop. She started to sob. Flustered, I looked around. "What? What did I do?"

"Please, strong Trainer," the little girl begged between hiccups and streams of tears. "Bring my Papa back for me. Strange spacemen broke into Papa's work two days ago and he hasn't come back to me! Please!"

My heart broke for her. Juliet waddled up and hugged her. The girl was so little that Juliet was almost her height. "We will, don't worry." She looked up at me. "Right, Roland?"

"Right," I answered firmly, lifting her out of the despairing little girl's arms. "Where does your Papa work?"

"The Valley Windworks. Please find him, strong Trainer!"

-0-

The Valley Windworks was only a short distance out of Floaroma town. It was still beautiful, with tall, waving grass and trees with sweet smelling bark. Huge windmills churned the air around us. Standing in front of the door was a Team Galactic grunt, which made my stomach drop unhappily. I was hoping that when the little girl said that spacemen kidnapped her papa, it didn't mean Team Galactic… real aliens might have even been preferable.

The grunt saw me, and threw me off by smiling and motioning me over. She ducked into the building and left the door open a tantalizing crack.

I released Mandy. "Rock Throw at the ready." I edged over to the door cautiously and peered in. It was too dark to see. Ominous. Worriedly, I readied all my courage and nudged the door open. The lights immediately flicked on, and five grunts were waiting for me, Pokémon released and waiting. I let out a yell of surprise, but Mandy was ready, crushing two Zubat and coming back around with a Tackle on a charging Glameow. I returned her and the grunts waited graciously until Natalie was out of her Pokéball. Natalie finished off the lot of them, with Juliet contributing only a Bubble or two. The three were breathing hard, but more were waiting as we progressed through the building. Backs pressed together, my girls fended them off, letting Natalie do most of the work for the experience. Natalie was level-wise the strongest of all of them, almost five levels above them both, but she still only knew Hidden Power and Leech Life for attack moves. It worried me.

Too tired to even breathe loudly, they collapsed, draped over one another after the final grunt had been vanquished. I went for the last door at the end. Through the window I could see an imperious red-haired woman standing over an exhausted man at a computer. I rattled the doorknob, but it was locked.

"The Works Key is in there with our Commander, and the only copy is with our cohorts in the Meadow," said a grunt, triumphant despite being beaten. Because in the end, they had won. I couldn't get in.

I tucked the nugget of information about the Meadow into my brain for later. As for now, my Pokémon needed to get to a Pokémon Center.

-0-

Juliet, Mandy, Natalie and I enjoyed a meal at the Pokémon Center before heading out. They were bolstered by being healed and getting a rest, and we were just about ready to head out. I stopped to pick some berries outside Floaroma Town's only shop, and looked up when a shadow was cast over me.

It was a girl, probably my age or a little bit younger. She had long, voluminous hair that gave a little curl toward the end. She had a cutely sculpted face and a flattering dress with a pale green floral pattern.

"Here, take this," she said, giving me an item she was holding. "It's called a Sprayduck. It'll help you, if you like to garden."

"Thanks! I do!" I took it appreciatively. "I'm actually working for Professor Rowan and doing research as a favor for him." I stood up, dusted my pants off, and shook her hand. "Nice to meet you!"

"Wow, you're so young for that!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, I'm ten," I said. "My name's Roland. What's yours?"

"I'm Flora! I help at this shop with my Mom and Auntie," she explained. "I love living here with so many flowers, but only day lilies and sunflowers grow here. I wish I could see more kinds, but I don't want to leave Mom and Auntie alone here at Pretty Petal Flower Shop."

"I can do that for you," I said without thinking. She was confused, so I said, "I can find flowers for you and press them in books and mail them to you."

She gasped happily. "Can you do that?"

Juliet butted in. "I hate to interrupt you lovebirds, but don't we have a date with some Galactic grunts, Roland?"

"Right," I said. I apologized to Flora and left.

On the way to the Meadow, Juliet pecked at my ear and smirked and teased, "Well, aren't you a ladies' man! First Dawn, now this Flora chick…"

Oh no! I could feel my face flushing! Oh, I hoped the red wasn't showing up! I hid my face. "Can we just concentrate on Team Galactic?"

Juliet laughed, hugging my neck. "You know I'm messing with you. We'll always be Roland and Juliet, right?"

"Exactly," I said as we approached the mouth of the Meadow.

I heard the Galactic grunts before I saw them. "You must give us the Honey! We have to use it to attract droves of Pokémon! You don't understand what Team Galactic's goals are in this world. If you help us, you will be creating a better universe!" I saw the second grunt hit the poor man they were bullying, and that was when I couldn't stay back any longer. I ran forward.

"Hey! You leave him alone!" I shouted, jumping into their midst.

The two grunts turned in surprise. Seeing me, recognition flitted across their faces, and they loomed over me, taller than me by three feet at least. They had to be more than twice my age, and looked rough and tough.

"This brat saw everything," said the second grunt, sliding around behind me to block my exit.

"What are we going to do with you, boy?" smirked the first, leering at me. I went for my Pokéball, but he lifted his hands in a placating peace gesture. "Come on, we're not going to battle you; we're not that stupid. I mean, I don't want to have my butt handed to me by a ten year old boy! Oh, don't panic," he said, grabbing my arm before I could get away.

"Agh! Let go of me!" I shouted, trying to pull away, but his grip was like iron. He grabbed my other wrist, pulling me close to him, so I could feel his breath. "Juliet, help me!" Juliet could only take one step before the other grunt's Glameow sprang forward onto her back and pinned her down.

"Do you know how Team Galactic stays discreet even though a brat sees them doing business?" asked the second grunt, leaning in close.

"No," I tried to say, but fear closed my throat so I only managed a strangled, high pitched noise.

"Yeah," answered the one who was holding me. "We make sure that brat will shut up about us- permanently!" With all his strength, he pulled up and kneed me in the stomach. My vision completely went, and I doubled over in agony as pain flared through every pore of my body. It was as if I could actually feel the individual organs the grunt's knee had violated. He let go of me and I collapsed onto the ground while my vision trickled back. I slowly curled up around myself, but it hurt to move. I heard Juliet screaming my name.

The grunt wasn't done. I lifted my arm in front of me as if to shield myself from him, from pain, but he flipped it over with his foot and pinned it down, his boot making my bones creak. "Please," I gasped. They both kicked me once, in the lower back and chest. A groan leaked from my mouth as I forced myself to sit up and began to drag myself away. The grunt picked his foot up and let me go. I leaned against a tree, breathing heavily as my vision leeched away and I blacked out.


	4. Mars and Ghosts

My eyes opened just a crack.

Bleary sunlight, pulsating in different colors, hurt me like needle pricks on my retinas. Picking up my hand heavily and shielding my vision, I squinted into the light. I was in Floaroma Meadow. My stomach throbbed in pain. I was…

Memory returned to me, and I shuddered and took a breath. I was leaned up against a tree in the Floaroma Meadow, and I could tell without looking that my body was black and blue. My concern when I realized that I didn't know if Juliet was okay was muffled by my nausea. I pulled my knees up to my stomach and breathed heavily, in my mouth, out my nose. Or was it supposed to be the other way around? It didn't matter. I gathered my courage and opened my eyes fully; I forced my body into a crouch.

There she was, passed out a few feet away from me. I felt tired relief- she looked unharmed. I crawled over to her and shook her gently, but she didn't wake up. "Juliet." No response. "Juliet."

I made a noise, half sigh and half groan. I slid my arms under her and pulled her close to my chest. I scooted back to the tree and braced myself against it as I stood. Hurting and out of breath already, I began to make my way painfully from the Meadow. If I could only get out of it, somebody would be sure to help me…

Twice, pain and light-headedness forced me to my knees. Persevering was harder than anything I'd faced on my journey so far. To distract me while I went, I tried to judge how much time had gone by using the sky. Was it an hour? A day?

As soon as I had Floaroma Town in sight, I fell forward into the dirt, Juliet's warm, breathing body locked in my arms as I held her tight. Somebody shouted, and feet thudded towards me. I smiled at them, so thankful, but I guess it looked more like a grimace. They helped me up and before I knew it, I was at the Pokémon Center. I was vaguely aware of Flora's horrified look above me. She was terrified for me.

I would have some horrible bruises, said the Nurse Joy, but both Juliet and I would recover swiftly. Relaxing in the Center made my vision right itself and my breathing return to normal. I was told that I'd had a dangerously elevated heartbeat when I showed up from strain, but now it was slowing.

I had actually been laying there against that tree for a whole day, knocked out. It made me furious to think that I'd lost a whole day of my life, unable to get it back.

As soon as they'd healed her in their Pokémon Center master PC, I got Juliet back. I was sitting in the Center's main lounge. I pressed the button on the Pokéball and released her.

Even as a forming red ball of light, I heard her shriek. She attacked my chest in a barrel hug, little fins clutching me and teary face buried into my torso.

I flinched. "OK, happy to see you too, ouch, ouch, ouch."

"Sorry." Juliet sniffled, pulling off me. "You worried me so much. When that grunt kneed you and you fell to the ground, and you were just saying please again and again, and they were kicking you and you stopped moving…"

"I'm alright, Juliet. You're making a scene," I said, patting her back, flustered.

"Ugh! I cannot believe you!" She shook her head and barked a laugh, spitting a stream of ice-cold water in my face. I laughed, shaking my head like a dog and showering her.

She snorted and nosed in my pockets. "C'mon, let Mandy and Natalie out."

If anything, the ordeal had been way worse for them, because they could only watch helplessly from their Pokéballs. They had pretty much the same reaction when I released them as Juliet. First, horrified and upset; then, relieved and happy and ready to move on.

"I know _I'm_ ready to move on," I told them, retying Mandy's ribbon for her. "Nurse Joy said I'd be fine to go as soon as I felt I was."

"And do you feel that, or are you just being a stubborn boy?" asked Mandy, rolling her eyes.

"Yes, I do feel it," I said in exasperation, rolling my eyes, which for some reason made the three of them laugh. Of course, I didn't prove it much by stumbling when I got up, but I just had jelly legs. I really did feel much better.

I stopped by Pretty Petal Flower Shop to pick some Berries, and Flora gave me some free ones too, joking that getting mugged merited some free stuff. That's right; Floaroma Town thought I had been mugged. They knew nothing about Team Galactic and their plot, going on right in their own Valley Windworks…

The Valley Windworks… when I returned the site of my alleged mugging, Natalie easily found something glittering in the dirt. Juliet cleaned it off with a quick BubbleBeam. It was a Works Key. There was no mistake here. Team Galactic wanted me to find it, which meant there was probably a trap in store.

Well, then, I thought, they have another thing coming to them. I will battle them, I will beat them, and I will free that little girl's father. I was furrowing my brow furiously without noticing it. I arranged my face into a less intense expression.

For the second time we found ourselves heading down to the Valley Windworks.

"What's my approach here?" I asked my Pokémon, crouching before them near the Valley Windworks but hidden behind a tree.

"Blast them with rocks, water, and poison," Mandy suggested knowledgably.

Natalie elbowed her. "He meant his image, genius~. Roland, try to be a tough guy~. Kick the door open~. Be all macho~. Oh, but don't hurt yourself~."

"Macho," I mused. "Yeah, I can manage that."

First, I carefully turned the front doorknob, making sure to be silent. Then I took a step back and, copying all the Global Police shows I'd seen on Jubilife TV, yelled "Hi-ya!" while kicking it open. I stormed in, Juliet, Mandy, and Natalie beside and behind me. The grunts were very surprised, to say the least, and I battled them again. That made me happy- you usually only get to battle a Trainer once. Even if they were Team Galactic, they still equaled EXP.

We got to that door, that door that I couldn't get past last time. I whipped out the Works Key, jiggled it in the lock, and the door swung open. Persisting with the tough-guy thing, I ignored the red-haired woman and moved straight towards the little girl's father.

The woman stepped in front of me. She wore stretched out tutu like dress, and her hair had a funny flip in the back.

"I am one of Team Galactic's three Commanders," she said. "My name is Mars. Most people don't understand Team Galactic's core purpose of universal peace. I can see that you don't understand it either. It's a little saddening. Oh, well. Pokéballs out, Roland."

Of course she knew my name. Ugh. I didn't even ask. I should expect it by now. "Alright, Mandy, go!" Mandy jumped into battle against Mars's Zubat, which, as you can imagine, did not last long. A single Rock Throw took it out, but Mars did not seem perturbed in the least. In fact, she was grotesquely unconcerned.

"Oh, well," she said. "I still have another." She picked up her last Pokéball from a table and clicked the button. With a yowl, the ugliest cat I had ever seen burst out. I didn't even know Glameow had an evolution. I guess most people kept them as Glameow because Purugly was just butt ugly. I snapped it with my Pokédex worriedly and returned Mandy.

"Natalie, get in there," I said.

The bug grinned, feral. "Aw, Roland, I thought you'd never ask~!" And, without any command from me, she launched into a Hidden Power. Before Purugly could do a thing, Natalie released a volley of at least fifteen Leech Lifes. The cat spat and hissed, paw darting out at Natalie and pinning her by a wing case. Natalie howled in discomfort, and then pain, as the cat Scratched her again and again.

"Bide, Natalie, Bide!" I yelled. Natalie began to shake as she absorbed the energy Purugly unknowingly donated as it Scratched her twice more; then she twisted lightning fast and smacked the fat cat down. It didn't get up.

"What?" Mars stomped her feet like a spoiled child, hands in fists. She returned the ugly animal. "Oops, I messed that one up. That's all right, though. I quite enjoyed out battle. I guess it's time to say good-bye and leave for the time being!" She took her Pokéball and ran straight past me. But in the doorway she stopped, turning back around to face me. "Bye-bye. This won't be the last time we meet, Roland." With particular venom, she added, "Enjoy your Pokédex project!" Then she turned tail and fled.

The man at the computer, the little girl's father, gave a shuddering breath, running his hand through his greasy head of hair. He had been watching our battle, holding his breath.

"Team Galactic…" he said. "They were saying they had to gather Pokémon and energy no matter what. It was for creating a new universe, or so they claimed. Nothing they said made any sort of sense to me. I can't tell you how grateful I am for saving me. I can finally see my little daughter again!"

Even as he spoke, the little girl ran past me, entangling his legs in a tackling hug. "Papa! Yuck!" She pulled away. "You're stinky! Go shower now, stinky!"

Both the man and I laughed. "Oh, sorry!" he said, kneeling and ruffling her pigtailed head. "They had me working nonstop!"

"Thank you, strong Trainer!" the little girl said, turning to me for the first time. "You made those bad people go away! Now I can have my Papa back!"

"Yes, I'm all yours," he laughed, picking her up and balancing her on a hip. "Let's go home, sweetie." He turned to me. "I live in Floaroma Town half the year and Hearthome the other. I'm a single parent of my little bundle of joy here. If you ever are in the area and need anything, find me. You're always welcome with us." He paused. "But… your Kricketune is a little creepy. You can leave her in her Pokéball, please."

"That was awfully nice~," remarked Natalie, wiping Purugly blood on the carpet once they had gone.

I snorted, ruffling her antennae. "That is so you, Natalie," I smirked, returning her to her Pokéball. I turned to Mandy. "How did your ribbon hold up in battle, Mandy? Does it stay on?"

"Yes, it works quite nicely," she said, dimpling as best as a hunk of rock can. I returned her and hefted Juliet onto my shoulder. "To the Pokémon Center and then the next Route, then. I know you guys don't need to be healed, but I need a rest. Sorry."

Juliet sighed, saying, "Look, you don't need to be. If you have to sit down, then sit! Your health is the most important thing. Unlike us, you can't be patched up by a handful of Potions."

By the time we reached the next Route, it was evening. We mopped the floor with the Trainers, slathered some Honey on trees and left it to marinate, and trained a bit in the local tall grass.

"There's one obstacle separating us from Eterna City," I told the girls as they gathered around me. I placed a finger on the Map. "Eterna Forest. It's the home to lots of poison type Pokémon, and many psychic Trainers and bug catchers. I'm hoping to find a good grass type here, since we're really vulnerable to water types."

"Sweet, a new team member~!" Natalie said, rubbing her feelers together. "Execllante~!"

"Yep." I stood and folded the Map up. "Let's go find him!"

I left them all out as we walked, which I enjoyed. It was fun pretending to be absorbed in my surroundings while actually eavesdropping. Hey, don't look down on me; I'm a boy. I want to know how girls tick! Of course, the fact that they're Pokémon might change the circumstances…

"'Him,'" Mandy was mocking. "Isn't it funny how he assumes our next member will be a him?"

"Especially considering that we all had only a small chance of being girls," chuckled Juliet.

"Honestly~," Natalie sighed. "You would think that after seeing us in action, he'd _want_ girls for his team~. I know I do~."

"Yeah, guys are pigs," laughed Mandy.

"Roland excused, of course," Juliet reprimanded.

"Yeah~," Natalie agreed. "He's alright~."

I hid a mirthful smile behind my hand. "Pfft!"

Even as they began to inquire about the noise I'd been unable to control, I hushed them, dropping to my knees and pointing to rustling bushes. We had a good, concealed position. Really, I didn't care so much about the wild Pokémon as I did about preserving my ability to eavesdrop on them. They hushed immediately, and we watched to see what Pokémon would emerge. It would be my choice to catch or leave it, but due to the law, it would be my only chance for the whole Eterna Forest.

Peering out from under the bush with bright black button eyes, a small, furry Pokémon ducked its head out. It was so dainty and fluffy that it could only be another female. Her tall ears unfurled as she tentatively hopped into the daylight.

Suddenly, her ears twitched in our direction and she bolted. I jumped up from our hiding spot, yelling, "RUN, MANDY!"

Mandy jumped up and smashed her fists into the ground. A weak Magnitude sped at the Buneary and tripped her up, which gave me just enough time to chuck Juliet at the bunny Pokémon. Juliet used Pound, but the Buneary blocked it with one powerful ear and returned a Pound with the other. Juliet cried out, flapping her wings and hopping back.

Natalie was on it, reading her violin arms for Sing, but the Buneary curled her ears in and clamped them down on her head. Natalie sent out a Leech Life, and as the Buneary cried out, I threw a Pokéball.

The Pokéball wriggled once, twice. It burst open. My jaw dropped in shock. Mandy Tackled the bunny and held her down while I threw another Pokéball. It dinged. Once, twice, three times. Then it clicked. No Pokémon had ever been that hard to catch. I ran out and picked it up from the ground. The Buneary was glaring at me with fierce hatred from her ball. I dropped it in surprise, nearly releasing her by accident. I quickly picked it up again.

"Zzt. Input nickname?"

"Yes," I said, speaking clearly. I paused, thinking hard for this one. "Opal," I finally said. "Input Opal." I looked at the angry Buneary in the ball. "Welcome to the team, Opal." I clicked the Stats button.

"Zzt, Buneary," the Pokéball bleeped. "Zzt, female. Original Trainer, Roland, zzt. ID number 142 zzt 53. This Buneary has zzt a jolly nature zzt. She is highly zzt persistent and likes zzt sweet food, zzt."

"Jolly?" I remarked incredulously, staring at Opal, who was making rude gestures. "She looks anything but jolly! …More like vicious!"

"Meh~. She's probably just sore about being caught~," Natalie said with a shrug. "I know I was~! It'll pass~."

"I hoped so," I said. "I guess I shouldn't put off meeting her, though. I'll want to start training her immediately, since she's so much weaker than you guys."

"Weaker?" muttered Juliet, rubbing her head. "That Pound felt anything but weaker!"

I rolled my eyes, clicking Opal's Pokéball button. She burst out. It would have been less unsettling if she had started cussing me out, but she just folded her furry little arms and stared at me. I ogled at her. She tilted her head. I tilted mine.

"Hi, I'm Mandy," Mandy said, hopping up. "Welcome to the team."

"Your bow is stupid," Opal shot. Mandy gaped, looking up at me and mouthing 'What did I say?' Opal turned to me. "Who the heck are you?"

"My name is Roland," I said. "It's nice to meet you, Opal."

"That's not my name," she snapped angrily. "That's just a stupid name that you've given me, human. I'm just Buneary. Just a Buneary!"

I was taken aback. "I-is something wrong?"

"No," she said, drawing out the o and rolling her eyes. "Nothing at all." She turned her back. Troubled, I returned her to her Pokéball and looked at the girls.

"What did I do?" I asked.

Surprisingly, none of them had an answer, and even more surprisingly, none of them were very concerned. As Juliet put it, "It's disorienting to go from the wild to a Pokéball. Either that or she's just nasty. But as her nature says jolly, I think she'll relax in time."

We progressed into the Eterna Forest, Opal growing stronger and stronger with each wild Pokémon battle. In no time, she learned the move Frustration, which grew in power the more the user disliked its Trainer. It upset me that it was her strongest move. After defeating a Wurmple, I heard a voice. Crying. My head shot up.

"Do you hear that?" I exclaimed.

Juliet listened, pausing. "Hear what, Roland?"

"The voice, the crying!" I rolled my eyes. "Just listen, Juliet." It was loud and strong, the sound of a girl crying desperately. "Hurry, we have to get to her." I grabbed her up despite her protests, returned all my Pokémon, and pushed through the underbrush to get to her. The crying got louder and louder, and I broke into a clearing where I found the girl.

She took my breath away. I mean, she was obscenely beautiful. Her forest green hair was braided with flowers, silky and gorgeous, draped over her shoulder. She was sitting mermaid style, wearing a velvet shrug jacket of the darkest green and a knee-length dress of pale green silk and clear gems. The dress was flowing and tight in just the right places. Despite her face being buried in her hands, I knew that it would be the most beautiful face I would ever see. Why was I spending time training, caring about that silly- what was it called?- Pokie Dax project when I could have been spending time with her?

Realizing that I was holding some bird, I dropped it and moved rapidly toward the girl. It was as if I had horse blinders on, or that fog was covering everything but her. She was rendered in vivid detail before me, while everything else was blurred. I didn't care. Everything else was unimportant. The only thing that mattered was this girl. Cheryl, I realized her name was. Cheryl. The most beautiful name I'd ever heard. How had I not known it before?

She looked up with inhuman speed when I neared her. Her elegant eyes were rimmed with red. "Roland. You heard me. You came." She glided to her feet and moved close to me, her body nearly pressed against mine. She clasped my hand in hers. I gripped her as if she was the last life raft on the Titanic, feeling her perfect, slender fingers.

Something that sounded like "Yeaghhll" fell out of my mouth. My eyes were locked in hers. Green, like spring.  
>"I'm lost, Roland. You came to save me. Thank you," she whispered, her breath sweet smelling like mint. "You won't be like those other boys, I can feel it. You'll rescue me like a knight in shining armor. You won't disappoint me like they did." She leaned in close, her lips brushing mine. "You're the one, I can feel it. Lead me out of this horrible forest, please!"<p>

"Yeaghll!" I managed again, emphatically.

"Thank you, Roland!" She sprang back, hands clasping together, eyes alight.

"Just follow me, my lady," I tried to say dashingly. I'm not sure, but I think all that came out was "yeaghll". She still seemed quite taken with me. Perfect. I love her, I thought viciously.

As hours stretched on, I could feel Cheryl's frustration mounting, turning into something violent, something dangerous and angry. I could almost see it, swirling in the fog above her head. Her eyes were almost turning red…

Vaguely, I became aware of a voice screaming my name. "ROLAND! Roland, you idiot!" The voice… somehow, it was familiar. I knew it from somewhere. It was friendly, I knew, so I decided to follow it. I noticed the trees beginning to thin, which was funny, because ever since I met Cheryl- somehow I couldn't remember how long I had known her, whether it be minutes or years- I hadn't been noticing much of anything except her perfectness. Above us loomed an old, abandoned mansion swathed in purple, sinister mist.

Suddenly, Cheryl stopped behind me. I turned to look at her. "We're here," she said in wonder, the anger blowing away in the wind, making me wonder whether I had been imagining it. "We're out. We're out of the forest."

It was as if a spell had snapped. I could concentrate again. I jumped up and down, spinning around to Juliet, who I had forgotten was there. "We're out, Juliet! Eterna City, here we come! Right, Ch-"

No. But that was impossible.

Cheryl was gone, like dust in the wind. I stared at the place where she had been standing, shocked. "Cheryl?" No answer. "Cheryl!"

"Roland- Roland!" Juliet grabbed my ankle, forcing me to pay attention to her. "Snap out of it, Roland, come back to me."

"Wh… what?" I shook my head. "WHOA! Hold the phone! Where the heck are we?"

"We're at the end of the Eterna Forest, Roland, almost on the Route that breaks out to Eterna City!" cried Juliet. "Miles ago you went into some funk, talking to some chick you apparently call Cheryl. It was like you were in a trance. Look at your ankle. I've been Pecking it incessantly to try to get your attention, and it's all bloody."

"Wha- no, Juliet, Cheryl was right here the whole time!" I said, shocked. "I'm… she's right around here somewhere, I know it!"

"Roland," she said seriously. "There was nobody there the whole time. No girl. No voice. You were talking to thin air."

Above us, an eerie howl echoed from the Old Chateau. It almost sounded like a girl saying thank you.


	5. Galaxies

Juliet the powerhouse Piplup, Mandy the feminine Geodudette, Natalie the creepy, bloodthirsty, and yet somehow sweet Kricketune, and Opal the ghetto Buneary. And then, of course, there's me, Roland. I'm a human. This is my nuzlocke team, and this is my mission: I'm going to fill up my Pokédex for the Sinnoh expert on Pokémon, Professor Rowan, and once I'm done, I'll retire as a Pokémon Trainer and go to work for him in his labs.

I do have some obstacles in my way. First of all, there's sinister Team Galactic. I don't know what they're up to- all of their babbling makes no sense to me at all, and I am very smart for a ten year old- but they don't treat Pokémon right and they beat me up once. Then there's my best friend in the whole world, Markus. He should be a speed racer, not a Pokémon Trainer; he is the most impatient kid in the world, and every time we've met in the last, oh, I don't know, pretty much all of my life, he ends up knocking me to the ground. He got a Pokémon from the professor as well, but I'm on a mission from his mom to bring him home. That's right… Team Galactic attacked his house. What does Markus have to do with _them_, anyway?

In any case, we've pushed on for a long time and even gotten a Gym Badge from Oreburgh Town. We're very strong, if I may say so myself. Opal, the newest addition to our team, though having an attitude, is just as powerful as the rest of them! Recently we've gotten through the Eterna Forest, which was a very spooky time. We saw some strange things in there, including what everybody seems to believe to be a ghostly apparition. I don't know. She seemed so real…

The area around Eterna City was pretty. Lush. There was a pond spanned by a bridge just outside the Eterna Forest; fishermen flocked to it. They made good practice for my Pokémon. Believe it or not, defeating Magikarp is useful for boosting your attack stats, which is why I let Mandy handle them. She was a little put out to be handling Magikarp, of all things, but too bad.

We finally entered Eterna City, relieved to be leaving the wilderness behind. Juliet waddled behind me as the dirt turned into asphalt streets. "Finally! Back in civiliza-" I had a sharp intake of breath and dove behind a bench, grabbing Juliet and pulling her along. She tried to shout out, but I clamped her beak closed.

"What?" she hissed when I released my grip. I peeked over the top of the bench anxiously. This was a horrible hiding place, just horrible.

"Grunts," I whispered. "Galactic." I lifted her up for a quick look. She gasped and I put her back down.

There were many of them, at least five that I could see by their uniforms, just milling around on the street. But the weird thing was that nobody was reacting strangely to them.

"I… I don't think they're up to anything," I said wonderingly. Juliet snorted derisively.

"It's Team Galactic," she said in a grim, knowledgeable manner. "If they're here, they're up to something."

Cautiously, I crept out and straightened up, Juliet perched on my shoulder defensively. There were no shouts, no pointing. The grunts didn't look at me twice, and unlike the Floaroma grunts, they didn't seem to recognize me.

"This is strange," I muttered, entering the town.

"Strike up a conversation," Juliet urged. "Get the down-low on the situation."

I chatted with some Trainers in the Pokémon Center. One kid, younger than me and still in school, told me that Team Galactic took his Pokémon away, and other people's too. The general consensus in the Center was that something should be done about it, but Galactic creeped everybody out. Outside was a different manner. A bug catcher told me, and I quote, "My friend said Team Galactic took his favorite Pokémon away. I don't think he's telling the truth. Team Galactic looks so cool. They don't look like common thugs."

Another woman said, "Since that Team Galactic building went up, the city's atmosphere has gotten all creepy and tense. I don't know what those people are doing up in that place…" After that, I looked at the only tall skyscraper in the town with new eyes. Hatred, really. So Team Galactic even had a center in this poor town. _I will do something about that,_I thought ferociously.

Growing more confident when none of the grunts tried to apprehend me, I meandered up to some of them and listened in. It seemed that they all had a bad habit of talking to themselves. One man crowed about their new building, about how Team Galactic was so stinking rich that they could have one built instantly.

"Bad sign," Juliet remarked as we moved away. "Where are they getting all those funds?"

"Don't know," I said darkly.

Two grunts spoke directly to me. The first ran right up to me, pointing authoratively. "Hey, you! Yeah, you, Trainer!" I loomed, despite being half his height. Juliet spat a warning bubble. "Errr… it's OK. Never mind. You look tough. I won't take… um, I'll just let you keep your Pokémon. Carry on!"

The other grunt warned me seriously to stay away from some statue or something. I found out what they meant when I headed out the other side of the town and saw this huge, hulking statue of some mythical Pokémon. It was crawling with Galactic drones.

Without me noticing, a woman had sidled up to me, and was staring at the grunts disapprovingly. She was taller than me by a head or two, and had long blond hair that was twisted into dreads and woven with black feathers. She may have been eighteen. I jumped when I saw her. She smiled, adjusting her coat.

"Hi, my name is Cynthia," she said, sticking a hand out. I shook it. "I'm a Trainer just like you. I've been studying Pokémon mythology lately, just out of curiosity." She suddenly noticed my Pokédex, hanging from my belt. "What's that?"

"It's my Pokédex," I answered, chest puffed out in pride.

"Oh, really?" She scrutinized it. "I've never seen a Pokédex like that before. You must be doing the project for Professor Oak, right?"

"No, Professor Rowan."

"Rowan?" Cynthia seemed taken aback. "Since when we he doing the Pokédex project…?" Her voice trailed off thoughtfully. She looked at me. "What's your name, Trainer?"

"My name's Roland! It's great to meet you!" I hefted Juliet, who chirped a hello. "This is Juliet."

"Roland and Juliet," she said, lips smiling. She had an exotic face- I couldn't place the culture, but it was striking. "I will be sure to remember those names." She paused. "Hold on a sec." She pulled open her jacket, where I saw hundreds of pockets, and rummaged around, throwing stuff on the ground. Her items were so expensive that I had to wonder how rich she was- Ultra Balls, Full Restores, Max Revives, and element stones were tossed down in abandon. "Ah! Here is what I'm looking for!" She thrust a disc out to me with both hands. "Here, take it. It's HM01, Cut. It will help you get to new places that you couldn't get to before. That's an important part of the Pokédex project, right?"

"Right," I said, accepting it gratefully. "Thanks! I'll use it." I shoved it in my pocket, truly grateful, but disliking the way her gaze always turned into a slight frown when it lingered on my Pokédex.

"Well, you're welcome. I hope I see you around, Roland. Au revoir!" She gave me a jaunty wave as she left.

"Odd," Juliet remarked.

"Yep." Anyway, we headed out on a Route to nowhere. It was off to the side of Eterna City, and filled with Meditite and Geodude. I actually saw a Ponyta out in the distance, but had no such luck as to catching it. Stupid Wildlife Protection Act. As dusk came upon us, Zubat began to flock in droves.

"Come _on,_Opal, just use Quick Attack," I said, blowing out my cheeks. She stared straight at me and hit the Meditite with a Jump Kick. I wasn't happy, to say the least.

"Why can't you just follow orders!" I shouted, throwing my hands up, kicking a rock, and pressing my palms into my temples.

Giving me a mutinous look, she declared, "I beat it. It fainted. I _won._"

I made a strangled noise, unable to do anything but stomp my feet and wave my arms. "Yes! That is true, you're right, but it's not the _point_ to make it faint, Opal! I'm training you. To be a part of a Pokémon Trainer's team, you have to learn to _take orders._It's vital!"

"But what if I don't think that you know better than me?" she challenged, a defiant light blazing in her black button eyes.

I closed my eyes for a long time, trying to wrestle my anger down. "Just- never mind, Opal. Never. Mind." I clicked her Pokéball. As she disappeared in a flash of red light, I turned to Juliet.

"What do I do wrong?" I asked. "What?"

The question had been rhetorical, but she sighed, ruffling her feathers. "Well… we do talk at the Pokémon Center, you know…"

"Really? Well, what does she say, then?"

"She just doesn't like you," Juliet admitted with a shrug. "She's good humored when you're not around. You wouldn't know, of course, because when you are around she's all sullen like that."

Well, I had imagined a million scenarios, including her having been a Gyarados in a past life, but that hadn't been one of them. "What? Really?"

"Really. She just doesn't like you."

"But… why?" You hear that sound? It was her blowing my mind. What had I ever done to Opal that she wouldn't like me? I'm likeable! Well, I did of course beat her dizzy before catching her, but that was standard. You have to come to expect it as a wild Pokémon.

Juliet wouldn't give me a straight answer, looking all around me but decidedly not at me. "I don't know." I glared. She sighed. "Opal's… a bit of a feminist. Maybe she just doesn't like the fact that her Trainer, the one giving her orders is a boy. Of course, you are the girliest boy I know, so I don't know what she's so upset about…"

I regally ignored that last part. "What does she want me to do?" I cried. "Cross-dress? That isn't happening." Grumbling, I stalked off towards Eterna City.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to blow off some stream and pummel some Gym Trainers."

And pummel them I did. But when I got to the Gym, there was a girl in the waiting room. She had a brown bob and green clothing, including a shrug jacket and belly shirt that reminded me uncomfortably of Cheryl.

"My name is Gardenia, the vivid master of grass type Pokémon," she told me in a queenly way. "If you want the Gym Badge, you're gonna have to beat me, master of this city!" She seemed to crumple suddenly. "That is, I was, but with Team Galactic running so rampant…"

"Why don't you do something?" I demanded. She sighed.

"I want to, I want to. But they're stronger than me. Our types don't match up…" She perked up somewhat. "But in any case! You'll have to find all my Gym Trainers and beat them if you wish to get my Badge. Best of luck to you, Trainer!"

Eterna City's being a grass type Gym, Natalie was just perfect for the job. With her Hidden Power, which I had come to realize was flying type, and Leech Life, they all cowered before her. Understandably. I was cowering too, and the guy at the front of the Gym who tells you about type matchups was cowering. She laughed her head off while piercing them with Leech Lifes and lulling them to sleep before falling upon them like a rabid dog.

"'Bug types are weak! Bug types were dumb! They don't learn any strong moves!'" Natalie mocked, destroying a poor Trainer's Cherubi. "Well, you know what?" she crowed, moving in on the Gym Leader's Roserade. "YOU DON'T KNOW JACK ABOUT KRICKETUNE!" She pounced on it, and, as graceful as an atom bomb, slashed downward with X-Scissor.

I was rather taken aback. Some part of my brain was elated at her finally learning a tangible bug type move- she should have learned Fury Cutter long ago, and it worried me that she hadn't. But most of me was preoccupied with being freaked out at what I had wrought. I collected the Gym Badge and TM and ushered Natalie away, wincing over my shoulder and mouthing to Gardenia, 'Sorry!' The Gym was aflame in some places, which creeped me out even more seeing as Natalie knew no fire type moves.

"It's my awesomeness~," she said when I asked her. "I'm just too cool~."

"Yeah, and humble, too!" I rolled my eyes.

"Exactly~."

In my pocket, I felt Cut's weight in the midst of my Pokéballs. The vision of the tall bushes barring the way into the Galactic building floated before my eyes. "Come on, girls. I know where we're going next."

-0-

We were halfway up to the top of the Galactic building when it happened. Mandy, voice faint and warbling, said that she didn't feel good, and she thought she was gonna hurl. Even before she finished the sentence, she swung around and puked into a trash can. Geodude puke is mostly mud and rocks, so it wasn't as disgusting as when Natalie did. Speaking of Natalie, I was pretty sure that I knew what was wrong with Mandy.

"Pokédex, diagnose," I said, pointing the device at Mandy.

"Zzt, diagnosing. Zzt. Zzt. Zzt. Ding! Geodudette-" A recording of me saying Mandy's name played- "diagnosed. Conclusion: zzt evolution. Approximate time zzt until zzt total transformation: zzt thirty two hours."

"Evolving!" Mandy said in wonder. Then she sucked in her breath, doubling over again and sweat breaking out on her rocky forehead. "Roland, go on without me and pick me up on the way back." I began to protest, but she interrupted. "Look, I'd personally feel better to be near a trash can at all times until this is over with!" She groaned. "Just. Go."

I had no choice. I gave her a hug, mentally thinking that evolution was really gross.

-0-

As we smeared the floor with a dozen Galactic grunts, the view from the windows got higher and higher and we climbed into the sky. I could see low-hanging clouds out of the window. Dizzying vertigo overcame me and I stepped back swiftly, committing to stay away from the windows.

Finally we climbed a set of stairs, and the room at the top was empty except for a man gagged and tied and a woman. The woman's hair was a pale lilac and manhandled into three pigtails that stuck out the top and sides of her head. I could smell the hairspray from the other side of the room. I ogled at her outfit.

"Well, that is a _very_tight bodysuit," I muttered, unsure where to look and feeling more uncomfortable than I could ever convey in writing.

She turned at my voice. "Eh? Did you want something? How silly of me to ask. You want to free the Pokémon. Yeah, that's gonna happen!" And without any further conversation, she threw her Pokéballs, both at the same time. I was startled, jumping back from the Zubat and Skuntank. Natalie jumped forward, engaging the Zubat. It took a Hidden Power and two X-Scissors, but she managed to knock it out despite type disadvantage. Spitting noxious gas, the Skuntank was on her in no time. She spun around and began playing her violin arms and xylophone antennae. The Skuntank stopped in its tracks as Natalie began her lullaby.

"You're in the arms of the angel, fly away from here, from this dark, cold hotel room, and the endlessness that you fear…"

The moment that the Skuntank's head began to nod, the glorious sound of the weeping violin and crystal clear voice cut off unceremoniously, and my Kricketune leaped forward, slashing at it twice with X-Scissor. I winced in empathy as it thudded to the floor.

The Team Galactic woman stared. "Losing to a child…? My carelessness has cost me too much. Well, aren't you tough…?" She sighed. "It's OK, though. Our official Pokémon-statue investigation is finished. Mars has collected energy from the Valley Windworks. We're pretty much finished here." She returned her limp Pokémon and strode past me to the staircase, turning to me. "I'll let you in on one little thing. Our boss is researching the myths of ancient Pokémon. With the power of mythical Pokémon, we will become the rulers of Sinnoh… I suggest you keep out of Team Galactic's affairs from now on. This is your last warning!" She went down one step, then paused, looked up at me. "Oh, yes, Roland?"

Again, with the names. Why I am even surprised anymore I don't even know.

She held up a remote control with a big red button. "I suggest you get out of this building before it explodes like a Voltorb." She pressed the button, tossed it to the floor, and flew down the stairs, laughing her head off.

"Whoa! That was UNCALLED for!" I yelled after her, the manic laughing raising goosebumps on my skin. I grabbed Juliet, but stopped at the stairs at a muffled, frenzied shouting. I spun on my heel, remembering the trussed man. I groaned. Of course.

"Natalie, the ropes!" I demanded. His eyes widened as she slashed the ropes open. They fell away. He pulled off the gag and jumped to his feet.

"You cut my arms!" he yelled angrily, but I wasn't staying to listen to his griping. I was already halfway down the stairs and calling Natalie back to her Pokéball. He yelped and ran after me.

Catching up to me, he started talking between his labored breaths as we tore across the rooms and slid down the banisters of stairwells. "I got my Clefairy back, and it's all thanks to you! But that Team Galactic… they said, 'Clefairy came from space. Hand it over!' Their logic baffles me still! Anyway, they're gone now. Thank you very much! I can't thank you enough right now, but cruise by my Cycle Shop, OK?"

"You're welcome and all, but isn't there a better time for this?"

"You're right, sorry!"

Juliet and I literally dove out the front door. I curled into a ball around her, shielding my head. _B-doom!_Debris showered down, but only a few golf ball sized pieces of burning dry wall assaulted me. We were coated in dust and dirt. Deeming it safe, I uncurled- letting Juliet breathe again- and looked up. The top half of the building had been blown off. Large pieces of building were burning around us. In fact, it was a miracle we hadn't been hurt.

I jumped when one last large piece of rock embedded itself into the ground behind me, a few flames flickering around in its crannies. My stomach dropping, I recognized a single red ribbon tied in a bow on it.

"Mandy!" I screamed, dropping to my knees by her, crying. How had I forgotten her? How? She was evolving! Now she would never be a… Graveller…?

Mandy stretched and looked up at me. "I am never letting you forget this," she said faintly with a weak smile. I cried out, sobbing from mixed fear and relief.

"It's a good thing fire is not effective on you," Juliet quipped, but she had been looking pretty teary too. Mandy smiled tiredly and lay down again. I returned her.

Later that evening, after the local Nurse Joy declared us fit for duty, I headed out to that Cycle Shop the man had been blabbering about. To my surprise, I got a free Bicycle from it.

"Yeah, the guy wouldn't shut up about how grateful he was and the like," I laughed to Natalie, Opal, and Juliet as we lounged in the waiting room of the Pokémon Center. "I don't really care. I got something free out of it, eh?" They all chuckled, even Opal. I turned my head to the door leading into the Pokémon Center bowels. "I wonder how much longer she'll be…"

"Hey, don't rush her~," Natalie said with a shrug, leaning back in her chair and popping another handful of Pokémon food into her mouth. "It takes some time~. I know~."

"I want to evolve," both Juliet and Opal sighed longingly.

I snorted, nudging them. "Touch of Poké-jealousy, eh, girls?" They shouted at me, making me giggle a very unmanly giggle. "Well, let's see what the Pokédex says about yours guys' evolutions." I whipped out the device. "Opal first!"

"Zzt. Buneary transforms zzt into Lopunny during zzt evolution zzt."

Opal rolled her eyes. "No duh."

"Zzt in captivity zzt Buneary zzt evolves when it reaches zzt a certain zzt level of trust with its owner. Zzt."

Now Opal's and my jaw dropped. We looked at each other, then at the Pokédex. I shook it.

"NOT fair!" Opal groaned, burying her fuzzy face in her fuzzy hands.

A little smile pulled at the corner of my lips. "Well, Opal," I said. "If you want to evolve, you're gonna have to make more of an effort to get to know me, then!" She huffed and spun around to put her back towards me.

Juliet hopped on my lap. "My turn, Roland, my turn!"

"Hold your Rapidash, I'm going!" I turned the Pokédex so its scanner was pointing at her. "Alright, let's see…"

"Zzt," announced the Pokédex. "Piplup transforms zzt into zzt Prinplup during zzt evolution. Its evolution zzt occurs when it reaches zzt a certain zzt level of power, usually level sixteen. Zzt."

Now my eyebrows flew up. Then I furrowed them. I gave it the same command, and it gave me the same answer. I sat back, stumped. "Huh."

"Huh?" Juliet asked, alarmed. "What does 'huh' mean?"

"It means that you are level twenty-six," I said.

"What? But the Pokédex says-"

"I know, I know! I can't figure it out either!" I sighed morosely. "Well, I'll ask Professor Rowan about it later. I can contact him on the Center's PC, but he's probably in bed by now." It was a funny image, the professor in pajamas, maybe a night cap and Teddiursa doll.

There was a ding on the intercom. "Trainer Roland, your Pokémon is ready to be picked up; please report to the evolution room pronto. And congratulations!"

Elated, we all jumped up and ran to the predetermined room. I turned to the girls when we got to the door. "This is it!" Then I pushed the doors wide open and we all ran in. Mandy was sitting on one of those strange hospital bed/stretcher thingamajigs with a sly grin on her face. But it wasn't the Mandy we knew. No, she was bigger, and had _feet!_

"MANDY!" we all squealed, rushing to her side. Her face turned stoic and emotionless as she stared into my face.

"Are you my master?" she asked in a deep, godlike voice.

We stopped dead, ogling.

Then she cackled. "I'm just screwing with you, man! It's still me!" She threw her arms around me and squeezed me to death in a very uncomfortable hug. Making me blush, flustered, flaring up like the sun, she smacked a kiss right on my cheek. The girls laughed at my expression and climbed up with her.

Only Natalie was a little put out. "Oh, great~," she complained. "I'm no longer the tallest~." But she couldn't hide her pleasure for her friend.

"Yeah, you make me look like a dwarf," Opal agreed. "That Magnitude you first knocked me down with back in Eterna Forest would, like, kill me now!"

Somehow, Mandy was pleased by that. "You think?"

"Totally," Opal assured, snuggling in close.

-0-

Having received the Bicycle turned out to be an incredibly fortunate thing, seeing as the Cycling Road would carry us on the next leg of our journey, and that nobody without a Bicycle was allowed on it. I wheeled my bike next to me through the rest stop that emptied out onto the Cycling Road. As I did so, somebody called out to me, making me stop.

"Oh, hi there, Roland!" exclaimed a man I didn't recognize in the least. "Oh? You look puzzled. You're wondering who I am. I'm Professor Rowan's assistant and Dawn's father. I've come a long way to help you on your adventure at the professor's behest. Roland, let me ask you, how many Pokémon have you met?"

"Oh! Uh, here," I said, fumbling with my Pokédex and handing it over to him. He clicked through some buttons.

"Oh, my," he said.

"Oh my?" I asked nervously. "Is that good or bad?"

"You're met forty-three Pokémon! Wonderful! Yes, bravo! Professor Rowan should be delighted! Here is something for you!" Into my hands he thrust a strange helmet thing. "It's an Experience Share, yes? It lets the team share EXP among themselves!"

"Um, thanks!" I held it awkwardly. "Actually, I don't see that I'll be needing it anymore…" I held it out to him.

He was perplexed. "Whatever do you mean?"

I should have taken the hint right then and there. "Well, if I'm not a Trainer any more, obviously I won't need a training device-"

Dawn's dad jumped a mile. "What? Why aren't you going to be a Trainer anymore?"

I sighed, cold, sad realization settling in. "You said my Pokédex is excellent…"

"Well, yes…"

"…but it's not good enough to go back to the lab, is it?"

"'Fraid not," he said, patting my shoulder. "For you to be done, I'd say you would need… oh, about four hundred fifty registered Pokémon."

I gaped, my breath literally snatched away, as if I was being battered by Team Galactic again. I couldn't even form any words. Four- four hundred and f-fifty-

"Well, ta-ta! Have a good day, Roland, and get cracking on that Pokédex!" I watched Dawn's father flounce off.

Well. That sucks.


	6. Relaxation

Ah, the freedom of flying down a road of cyclists faster than your legs could hope to carry you; the joy of the wind blowing in your face and the scenery whooshing by. Those were things that I could experience with my brand new Bicycle; those were experiences I could now know.

Of course, I didn't know how to ride a two-wheel Bike, but I'm a fast learner. And a slow Biker. My feet dragged on the ground to slow my passage as Juliet sighed irritably from the basket. My Bike was a little girly, but the basket did make it easier to carry Juliet around. All in all, I believed that my Bike would be useful on the journey. Walking everywhere got tiring.

The laughter of the other cyclists at my Bicycle and my slow going was effortlessly transformed into gasps when Natalie, Opal, Juliet, and Mandy set to work on them. Mandy in particular flaunted her evolution. Rock Blast, her new move, was a particular favorite.

Evolution. Ugh. It preyed on my mind. How come Juliet couldn't evolve? The answer came unexpectedly last night after everyone else was asleep. On a whim I asked the Pokédex why some Pokémon didn't evolve when they were able to. It answered- zzt- that a Trainer can halt the evolution of his Pokémon if he so wishes. Some Trainers even stop it unconsciously, unknowingly, because they were afraid that their Pokémon's personality would change, or because they were too attached to their Pokémon's current state. OK, that freaked me out a bit. Was I the reason Juliet couldn't evolve? I didn't tell her about what the Pokédex said. I was afraid she would be angry- or worse, be angry and pretend not to be.

We defeated all of the cyclists and headed down to the next Route.

"Hi, Roland! How's your Pokédex coming along?" came a high, squealy voice from behind me. I turned, and a slow grin broke out unbidden over my face to see Dawn standing there.

"DAWN!" I ran at her and gave her a tackle-hug. She laughed, hugged me back, and we separated. "My Pokédex is going great! …That's what your dad said, but he also essentially said that it was too pathetic for me to go back to the lab…"

"That's my dad, alright." She gave me an embarrassed, apologetic look. Then her gaze shifted to my Bicycle. "Um, that's kind of girly…"

"Hey! Pink stripes, ribbons, and a basket is the new black. Anyway, how is your Pokédex doing?" I asked earnestly. _Enough about me. I want to hear about you. You, Dawn._

"Me? I'm somewhere between fantastic and, uh, hopeless… But this isn't about me! I've got something nice for you." She dug into her Bag, making sure I couldn't see what she was doing, even though I craned my neck. She withdrew her hands quickly and held them behind her back. "Roland, choose which hand you want."

"Um, the right."

"I see… you want the Vs. Seeker." She pulled her hands out and handed me a device not unlike a book light. I turned it over in my hands, surprised. Rowan Labs was stamped on the back of this, too. "I'm impressed, Roland. You know what's important. Using that Vs. Seeker, you can find Trainers who want a rematch with you." She saw my shiny blue state-of-the-art Pokétch. "Oh, Roland, do you also have a Pokétch? Yup, you do. You can have this too, then. You deserve it for all your hard work. The Dousing Machine app locates unseeable items. It's something you should use often. It will tell you if there is an item on the ground that you can't see. It will be especially useful inside dark caves."

"Thanks!" I exclaimed, receiving the small chip and installing the app on my Pokétch. "Cool, this'll be really useful!" I paused. "Hey, Dawn, what was in your left hand?"

She blushed furiously, her expression somewhere between shy and sly. "Well… here ya go." She leaned over faster than a Blitzle and planted a kiss on my cheek. I stood, stunned, face slowly turning red as a Charmander's skin. She had lipstick on- was there a lip print on my cheek now? With a nervous giggle, she said, "OK, let's keep working on our Pokédexes. Professor Rowan is counting on us!" She ran off, hugging herself. Even though I was looking at the back of her head- that blue hair and white hat- I knew she was grinning like a fool. Just like me.

"You'll never wash that cheek again," Juliet teased, wiggling her bottom.

"Yeah," I said weakly, staring after her. Juliet snorted.

"Dawn and Roland, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-"

"Oh, be quiet, you!" I gave her a shove, but in my mind I could already see the two of us up the tree in my front yard, leaning in- what am I thinking? She's just the professor's assistant… "Besides, I still think girls are icky."

Juliet rolled her eyes, grinning. "Of course you do, when your entire team is full of them."

Huh, that's right. I hadn't really thought of that. "I need some boy time," I muttered, heading toward the next city: Hearthome, the epicenter of all Contests.

I entered a small tunnel boring through Mt. Coronet. It was gorgeous in there. The path was very firmly defined, only wide enough for people to walk single file, with handrails to steady yourself if you should fall. But otherwise, the tunnel was totally wild and gorgeous, a cavern covered in stalagmites, stalactites, pillars; an underground stream ran through with blind Goldeen and Magikarp swimming in it, waiting for Crawdaunt to eat; the walls were slimy, dripping, and marbled with a dozen colors that I could name and at least a dozen more that I couldn't.

"Make way, you ditz, there's a guy coming," Juliet chirped to me, nudging my leg playfully with her head. I stopped looking all around and looked down the pathway to see that she was right; there was another man coming. And I stopped in my tracks, staring at him. I know my face had gone colorless. He was ogling at me, too. He had short, cropped silver hair with only a few strands of blue left- not the dark-blue-almost-black of Dawn's hair, but bright blue, like the sky. He had jutting cheekbones and was wearing a gray suit. There were Pokéballs at his belt.

He was the one who moved first after the silence, walking towards me. He opened his mouth a couple of times, as if searching for words, before finally settling on, "According to one theory, Mt. Coronet is where the Sinnoh region began." He looked around, kind of embarrassed. "…In a newly created world… a world where only time flowed and space expanded… there should have been no strife. But what became of that world? …Because the human spirit is weak and incomplete, strife has spread… this world is being ruined by it… I find the state of things to be deplorable."

After a long, awkward silence where the man and I simply stared at each other, Juliet nudged me. "Make way, Roland, geez. Be polite." Wordlessly, I pulled myself up onto the railing so he could pass. I bored holes into his back with my eyes as he left.

When I had looked into his eyes, I saw a thousand apologies reflected there. I knew he found only hardness in mine. Luckily, Juliet hadn't noticed the uncanny strangeness of the whole encounter. That was good, because I didn't want her to be burdened with it… or ask me questions I didn't want to answer.

-0-

"Hearthome City!" I yelled as we burst into town. I threw my arms out wide as if to embrace the town. It was nighttime, so the streetlights burned brightly with Litwicks. The town was so big, so bold! It was a million time bigger than Jubilife, and a million times cooler! Apartments towered up over us; neon lights screamed about stores and shows and wares. It was, like, the New York of Sinnoh! I ran further into the street, the girls following close behind me in a huddle, looking around with wide eyes.

I gave an 'eek' and spun to face them, pointing a finger. "Look, this is the perfect opportunity for me to have a well earned vacation! There's a poffin cooking house- ooh, I could take some cooking classes!- and a Pokémon fan club and the best of all: the Contests!" I was beside myself with glee.

My Pokémon were cracking up. We walked through the streets, me jumping up and down and pointing at everything that caught my interest. Suddenly, I gasped tremulously, hands in front of my mouth, and almost had a heart attack.

"The Contest Hall," I whispered, staring at the gorgeous dome. "Oh. My. GOSH! I've only seen it on TV! Eeek!" I jumped up and down in a circle.

Now the girls were absolutely dying. "You are _so_gay, Roland!" Mandy snorted. She was the only one with enough breath between laughter to talk, but Natalie, Opal, and Juliet nodded in agreement.

I was very affronted. "Am not!"

"Are too~!" Natalie, of course.

"Am _not!_" I looked around and saw a woman wearing a sequined, flowing lilac dress in front of the Hall. "Watch _this_!" I marched up to her and tapped on her shoulder. When she turned around, I put a hand on the back of her neck and gave her a kiss, right on the lips!

Now the girls gasped. Natalie and Mandy burst back into laughter, while Opal and Juliet stood very still to watch what would happen.

"Vell," the woman said, ill at ease. "Zat was quite zomething. Who are you?"

"Uh..."

"Shh. Not anozer vord." She placed a finger on my lips, making me stare. "Did you know zat ze Gym Leader of zis town enjoys Contests? How do I know zis? You zee, I am the Gym Leader!"

Okay… Mandy, Natalie, Juliet, and Opal would not ever, _ever_let me forget this one.

"You cannot battle me now, young Trainar. You must get stronger first. When you have gotten a few more Gym Badges, come back to my Gym and find me." She spun on her stiletto heel and left me.

"Not. A. Word," I said through gritted teeth to the girls, who grinned and pantomimed locking their mouths with a key.

"I am a Contest _star_," Opal was drawling as we walked towards the dome.

I looked at her funny. "You are?"

"Well, I will be. You just stay out of my way and let me win!" She huffed and bounced toward the Contest Hall.

"That won't work at all," Mandy said as she watched the Buneary go. "Opal doesn't have the right moves at all to win!"

I was startled. "How do you know that?"

Mandy shrugged. "Eh… I do know a little about Contests."

"Come here," I said, returning Natalie. I strode into the Contest Hall, thrilled by seeing it in person but keeping a stoic face. I walked up to the main counter. "Excuse me, I'd like to register for the next Contest, please," I told the attendant.

He nodded. "Why, yes, we have one last spot available. Which Pokémon are you entering?" He leaned over the counter and saw Juliet. "Aw, look at this little cutie! She'll be a crowd favorite for sure!"

I stepped in front of her and pointed at Mandy. "Actually, I am entering this Graveller."

"Graveller? That's a… unusual choice."

"You just watch," I said grimly. "I will win this thing! My mother is Johanna."

He gasped. "_The_Johanna?"

"Yep," I answered. "Now, I believe I have to fill out a form?"

"Um- yes, yes! Right this way…"

Mandy and Juliet followed after me. Mandy looked up at me. "What was all that about?"

"My Mum was a huge Contest star a few years back," I explained as we were led backstage. "She retired after my dad left us. You know, to take care of me."

"…Oh," Mandy said sadly. I knew she was pitying me. Why wouldn't anybody believe me when I said we were fine, we were better off?

"Don't pity me," I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest.

"I wasn't," she snapped back. "I was thinking about how strong you must be to have held the family up like that. Obviously, I'm wrong, if you're so- so immature!"

"…Sorry," I mumbled. I brightened considerably when I saw the other contestants getting ready. "Hey, take a look, there's Opal!" I gave a jaunty wave, but she just huffed and continued powdering her fur.

"Um, Roland?" Mandy asked nervously as she and Juliet followed me. We threaded through the crowd. "Remember that day at Jubilife TV? How all of the accessories looked garish on me? Accessories are a big part in Contests. I mean, there's a reason why I never aspired to be a Contest entrant."

I grinned. "Silly Graveller. You just wait. With all this stuff at my fingertips, I can do wonders! Oh, hey, there's the clothes for the Trainers! What size tuxedo do you think I wear?"

And so went the next sixty minutes. I frantically had to learn how to tie bowtie; Mandy fidgeted as she sat still and I made her over while talking soothingly to her.

"I don't think I can do elegant," she said anxiously. "Roland, don't make me do this. I can't do this. I'm a rock type. We aren't admired for beauty or grace! Just brute strength!"

"Sit still!" I reprimanded, pulling out the glitter. "What if we're not going for elegance, beauty, OR grace?"

"Wha… it's a Contest, Roland, what else do we go for?"

"Charisma! Personality!" I brushed some gold liquid eyeliner around her eyes. "Allure! Now, look at yourself and tell me that you're not beautiful." Smugly, I swung her chair around so she could see herself in the vanity. Juliet was grinning like a fool, having watched the whole transformation. Mandy gasped.

"I'm the moon," was her first reaction.

I was amused. "Not really what I was going for, but since you're a rock- yeah, I guess it resembles that." I was proud of my achievement, but, of course- "I may have done the makeup, but the Pokémon's the one who pulls it off. Some Pokémon can't, you know. You can."

First I had dusted her down in a white powder, only letting her original brown color peek through in strategic areas for an earthy, natural look. I used black eye shadow in all of her rocky nooks and crannies, making them seem deep and mysterious. I alternated between silver, gray, and brown for a gradiated look. Lastly, I doused her in glitter to make her all shimmery and outlined her eyes in gold liquid eyeliner to make them pop. Of course, she kept her signature ribbon, though I despaired that it may fall to ashes after being burnt in that Galactic explosion.

"And just in time!" I exclaimed as the bell rang. I straightened my bowtie and presented myself to them. "Whaddyathink? Decent? Oops, never mind, no time! Let's go, Mandy! See ya, Juliet!" I quickly released Natalie so she could watch the show.

Bright lights! The crowd's cheers! The sounds of the MC saying meaningless words that nobody listens to! Ah, isn't it glorious! I waved to the crowd, knowing that behind the red curtain we Trainers were standing in front of, the Pokémon were waiting to be revealed. Finally, the time came. The MC introduced us all- there I was, 'Trainer Roland and his Graveller, Mandy!' There were some surprised murmurs in the crowd about the Graveller part. _You'll all see,_I thought, keeping that stage smile on my face. It struck me that maybe Mum was watching this right now, on the TV- what a surprise she would be getting!

Now the red curtain was pulled up- the Pokémon walked down a velvet carpet, modeled their look, and walked back as the MC introduced them all and talked a little about them.

There were gasps of awe as Mandy took her turn on the carpet. She wasn't smiling at all. _Don't retreat into your shell now, Mandy!_

"And here we have Mandy, the first Graveller we've ever had in the Contests; doesn't she look stunning, audience? It's all thanks to her Trainer Roland, give him a hand! Get this: he's only ten years old!"

I waved again merrily.

"What an impish little nature this Graveller has," the MC continued. "What a fabulous look she has going tonight! Give a hand for Mandy!"

Mandy remembered at the last second and gave a small smile. The crowd erupted into cheers while the other contestants tried not to look jealous.

Opal was wearing a variety of fluffy things, feathers, and flowers, and looking pretty and exactly like every Buneary ever to walk this Hall. I sighed sadly, putting my head in my hands as the crowd politely clapped. Opal was just so naturally pretty; I could have absolutely made her glow!

The dance round swung around quicker than Mandy would have liked. "You'll do fine," I whispered into her ear as I hugged her while being careful not to smear her makeup. "Just copy the first-"

"I know how to do it," she retorted. I knew she was just nervous.

I patted her shoulder. "Go slay 'em!"

Mandy had always been watchful, so she paid attention well to the lead dancer. She was not by far the best dancer- Opal outshone her in that regard, as well as other Pokémon, a Pikachu and Meditite- and she stumbled a couple of times. I was more nervous than her, I think. She flashed the occasional smile that set the crowd atwitter. They loved her! Opal, not so much. She was too ordinary; just another Buneary trying her hand. Of course, they'd have paid attention if _I_had dressed her up… stubborn little rabbit.

The last portion of the performance was talent.

"Let's talk strategy," I said, scurrying over the second the curtain fell.

She rolled her eyes. "Stop being such a stage mother." My puzzled look was rewarded with a conspiratorial smile. "I've got an idea. So just sit back and enjoy the show." She patted my cheek and trundled off.

"At least put on new eyeliner," I said weakly, sighing. What could that Graveller have in store?

The show came back on in no time. I settled in a folding chair offstage with Juliet on my lap.

"Don't worry," Juliet assured. "Give Mandy the credit she's worth."

I smiled, feeling my wrinkles of anxiety straighten out. I stroked the soft feathers on her head. "I love you, Juliet."

"Yeah, well," she said, ruffling her feathers and preening a little. She smiled back.

It was Mandy's turn, finally. Juliet placed a wing on my hands. I clasped it to keep from chewing my fingernails off. I wanted only the best for my Pokémon, my girls. I wanted them to win and be happy, for their days to be only filled with joy.

Huh, that was sappy. What's with the sudden surge of affection?

The crowd cheered wildly before Mandy even begun. She took a nervous breath, smiled, and turned so that the crowd was looking at her in profile. She was on the far side of the stage, near us, except we, of course, were out of view. She stomped her foot. I recognized Magnitude. This one was decidedly weak, maybe a Three or a Four. On the other side of the stage, a hunk of rock burst from the ground. It was the same kind of rock from Mt. Coronet, swirled with gorgeous colors.

The crowd waited expectantly. That couldn't be it, right? Right. She started throwing chunks of rock from a pile at it. Rock Blast, this time. With each boulder that hit the rock, it cracked a little. After about a minute of that, she used Rock Throw, which made one final rift in it. Lastly, she Tackled it, and all the cracks broke and showered down, leaving the rock as-

Juliet and I gasped. The crowd screamed and threw roses and money. Mandy's watchful eye had known exactly where the cracks would affect the rock deep within, and with each Rock Blast she formed something inside that only she could see. With Tackle, the outer shell broke away and allowed us to see the masterpiece she'd been creating.

It was a statue. The colors of the Mt. Coronet rock swirled over the beautiful carving- it was us. She had sculpted us. Opal and she stood in attack positions on either side of me in the carving, while Juliet perched on my shoulder and spewed a BubbleBeam. As for me, I looked determined and serious, but with a youngness about me, a fullness in my cheeks. Was that how I looked?

The statue was rolled away and Mandy lumbered offstage. Juliet and I hugged her tightly, and even Opal showed grudging approval. Natalie laughed. Opal's performance, on the other hand, was just boring. She sang. It was okay, but so overdone. I would have had her doing- no, never mind, 'cause she'd never accept my help. Now, if Natalie had been singing, nobody would think it was clichéd. Not the way Natalie sang.

All the Trainers stood with their Pokémon for the crowning. Opal and maybe two other Pokémon stood alone, having entered independently. Nobody was getting their hopes up. We all knew that Mandy, my Mandy, had stolen the show.

We weren't disappointed.

"And our winner by a landslide is…" The MC tore open the envelope and pulled out the name. "…Roland and his Graveller, Mandy!"

Of course, the crowd went wild. The competitors clapped halfheartedly. Even though Opal must have known she didn't have a chance, she looked shocked.

"Not only that," the MC said above the crowd. They shut up to listen to him. "But Mandy's statue from the talent portion of our program will be put on display in the front lobby!"

Now me and Mandy were screaming too- looking at the MC, then at each other, then throwing kisses to the audience.

All in all, a pretty good day.

Afterwards, I handed Mandy a wet towel to wash herself off with. I handed her the ribbon awarded to winners- it was red, just like her old one. Slowly, she untied her ribbon, looked at it, and placed it almost reverently in the trash can, accepting the new one.

"You won," Opal said, coming back to us after the house had emptied out and the other contestants slunk away. She shook her head, ears bobbing. "You actually won."

"You could have, if you'd have only asked for help, Ms. Stuck-Up," I teased, crouching and poking her little button nose.

She gave me a grudging smile. "You're alright, Roland, you know? You're alright." Before I could react, she gave me a furry hug around the neck and returned herself to her Pokéball.

I grinned a silly grin. Mandy returned to me, having finished wiping her makeup off. I turned to Juliet. "What did I do?" I laughed.

Juliet grinned, poking me in the tummy. "Come on. You, a boy, just won in a primarily girl populated competition that is considered to be extremely girly. You also beat a lot of girls to do it. Besides, Opal doesn't speak badly about you when we're alone. Maybe she's becoming fond of you, but is too tough to admit it."

Opal? Fond of me?

I my grin widened.


	7. The Lost Tower

"Don't go to the Lost Tower," said everyone I met. "It's full of ghosts and mourning Trainers. It's best to avoid that place, all in all."

So, predictably, what do I do?

Route 209 was a pleasant walk. Despite it being evening, it was still fairly bright out. The tall grass here smelled different, sweet. Half the Route was on the water, just adding to the general beauty of it all.

My name is Roland, unless you haven't realized by now. I'm a Pokémon Trainer/scientist-to-be.

There were plenty of Trainers to battle, and with the Vs. Seeker, I got to do it over, and over, and over, and over again. Needless to say, my Pokémon grew in leaps and bounds. Juliet BubbleBeamed. Mandy Magnituded. Natalie X-Scissored. Opal Jump Kicked. I struck up conversations with the Trainers while my Pokémon beat theirs senseless. And, the consensus was all the same: the Lost Tower is trouble.

It looked like trouble, let me tell you. It was quite similar to an abandoned mansion I once saw in a forest, which reminded me uncomfortably of another ghost I'd once met.

"I don't want to go up there~," Natalie said immediately after it came into view. "It's creepy and I don't like ghost types~. I only do well with psychics~. Come on, Roland, have a heart~!"

"We're going," I said firmly, heading towards it.

"I don't want to," Juliet groaned.

"Me either," Mandy said.

"Me either," Opal said.

"See, four against one~. You _have_ to obey the outnumbered rule~." Natalie begged.

I ignored them all. "I'm the Trainer, and I say-"

"Oh, great. He's playing the Trainer card again," Juliet sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Not earning any points, here," Opal added.

I sighed. I stopped. I turned back to them. "Come on, guys. Why don't you want to?"

"It's creepy," Mandy said.

"Scary."

"Depressing~."

"_And_ it's night."

My expression softened. I got down on one knee before them. "It's a good thing I'm here, then," I said, smiling. "That's what I'm here for- to cheer you up, make the nightmares go away, and protect you." I stood up again. "So, come on; let's go!"

We walked towards the Lost Tower. There was a sign in front of it- "Dedicated To Pokémon Dearly Departed". And sitting on the sign was the ugliest bird I'd ever seen.

Oh, its feathers were pretty enough. Black, and glossy. But it was missing an eye, and the remaining one was blood red. One wing was tattered and torn.

"Uh, what's with the bird?" I asked the guy loitering around the front of the tower. I think he was the gardener, or something.

He shrugged. "Oh, that Murkrow? It always hangs out in the front of the building from dusk till dawn. Every night it's been there for as long as I can remember. Don't look at it straight in the eyes, well, eye- Murkrow are bad luck."

Decidedly not looking at the Pokémon, I pointed my Pokédex at it. "Zzt. Murkrow, the darkness zzt Pokémon. Dual dark zzt and flying type. It is believed that zzt seeing this zzt Pokémon at night zzt will bring zzt about zzt ominous occurrences."

"Perfect," sighed Opal. "The last thing we need is bad luck."

I considered the Murkrow. To the gardener, I asked, "Anyone ever tried to catch it?"

He laughed. Seeing that I was serious, he said, "Well, no! I mean, why would anyone want to? It's maimed, broken! Besides, there are Murkrow galore inside the tower, and under the Wildlife Protection Act, the Lost Tower is technically listed as a new area."

"But back to the Murkrow. It doesn't belong to anybody?"

"Uh, no, it doesn't. I don't think so, anyway. I see it come and go all the time, and it's never with a person."

"Sweet," I said, looking at it.

"Roland," Juliet warned.

Defensively, I asked, "What?"

"Don't do anything stupid. You'll be breaking the law by catching that thing. We've seen a dozen other wild Pokémon on this Route."

I sighed, looking at the Murkrow. We had no defense against dark, psychic, or ghost Pokémon… he would be ideal. But, as Juliet pointed out… ugh. "Never mind." I looked at its torn wing, its empty eye socket. "We ought to knock it out, though, to see if we can get it to a Pokémon Center."

"Good idea~," Natalie said with a nod. "No Pokémon deserves to be suffering like that~." She shuddered. "Not even a creepy Murkrow~."

"Anyway," I said, shaking myself. "Let's knock it out and get on to the next town. This place is spooky. Mandy, you're up. Remember, no ground moves- even with that wing, I think it could still fly enough to avoid them. Best not waste the PP."

"Gotcha!" Mandy said, saluting. She launched straight into a Rock Blast, but before the first boulder was even remotely near him, the Murkrow gave a hop off the sign to the ground. My heart panged in pity. When he hopped off, his damaged wing flapped desperately, but caught no air, and the other wing wasn't enough to support him. He sort of glided/fell. I was determined to get that Murkrow to a Center!

He cawed at us and tried to go on his way. He hopped, flapped strenuously and fluttered a few feet off the ground, then touched down and hopped again. "After him!" I shouted. He looked over his shoulder at us and fled. Despite his unorthodox method of travel, he was still speedy, and I knew Mandy wouldn't be able to catch up.

"Come on, guys," I yelled, grabbing up Juliet and returning Mandy. We ran after the Murkrow, tearing through bushes and just barely keeping it in sight.

Juliet jumped forward and loosed a BubbleBeam. The Murkrow hopped up onto a bush and used Wing Attack; the bubbles that didn't pop were propelled back at us, making us dive for cover.

"Okay, Natalie, use Leech Life," I ordered. "Gently!"

Gently, Natalie sent out a single needle, which hit the Murkrow in the breast and did little to nothing. He shook his chest, dislodging the needle and jumping back into the undergrowth.

"Don't lose sight of him!" We did lose sight of him once or twice, but a flash of moonlight shining off glossy feathers got us back on track. We chased the bird through the grass and trees and bushes and mud. Suddenly, we broke into a clearing. The Murkrow was standing at the far side. "Victory!" I shouted. "Opal-"

The Murkrow gave me a look that said, 'Oh yeah?' Then he whipped up his wings. The more he beat his wings, the more an unearthly fog began to spill in.

"What is this move?" I shouted as the gray mist turned into something solid that I couldn't see through in the least.

"It's Haze- similar to my Mist." I heard Juliet's voice somewhere near me.

"We can't lose sight of him; split up~!"

I growled and ran blindly through the Haze, arms outstretched in front of me so I didn't run into the tree or something. I heard a mournful caw and altered my direction to run at it.

"Gotcha!" I shouted, diving. My fingertips barely brushed its tail feathers. I felt a sharp Peck on my finger, pulling my hand back sharply. "Ouch!" It had drawn blood. I sucked on my finger.

Suddenly, the sounds of shouting, scuffling, and grunting came from somewhere behind me. I scrambled to my feet and suddenly saw Opal, tussling with the Murkrow. She was trying to pin him down, going at his blind side and trying to pin his bad wing. Glowing yellow abruptly, sparks flew off Opal as she used Shock Wave on him. He crowed in pain, pushing her away and fleeing into the night.

"After him, guys!" We ran, this time determined not to lose him. Opal came up on my heels.

"Before you do anything, I think you should know-"

"Opal! Not now!" I irritably returned her to her Pokéball. "Okay, Natalie, we've got one shot. I want you to put it to sleep." If we couldn't knock it out, we'd settle for the next best thing.

"You got it, boss~!" She sprang forward, sweet violin music already filling the air, and began to sing: "Everyone is broken, and in need of a Savior, so He came, and was broken, for the mocker, for the shamed. Still our eyes are blinded, by the culture, by the lies. We can't see that we're filthy, that we're fallen and so dry…"

We all frowned. Why wasn't the Murkrow falling asleep? He seemed to be sniggering at us! Natalie redoubled her efforts, moving on to the prechorus, but the Murkrow just turned tail and ran off. Natalie stopped.

"Zzt, Murkrow is known zzt to have the zzt ability of insomnia," buzzed my Pokédex.

"Now you tell me," I muttered, running after the bird.

Suddenly, we were back at the Lost Tower. We all stopped in our tracks. How had that happened? Never mind! We ran inside, only faltering a little. He was hopping up the stairs at speed. Juliet tripped it up with Brine, a jet of water bursting up at his feet. He stumbled, but spun and used Night Shade. Juliet suddenly gave a groan, toppling as unseen things assaulted her mind- her special defense stats weren't the best. I scooped her up. "Just you and me now, Natalie."

"Just the way I like it~." We gave chase.

We ran up the steps, my thighs burning immediately. The Murkrow did everything in his power to throw us off. He crashed into shaky pillars that collapsed in my path. I snarled at the rubble, scrambling up it as best as I could. My hand slid off a slick patch and I winced, cradling the scratch I'd received. But no time for nursing my injuries! "To the stairs, Natalie," I called. I heard insect chirping behind me. Good, she was keeping up.

"You won't get away," I called to the Murkrow. I heard his cawing, which now sounded like laughter; he was mocking me! I wouldn't stand for it! "Oh, you're gonna get it now, mister!"

"You're going about this wrong~," Natalie said warningly. I stopped for a second. She was right, of course. Natalie _was_ right about most things, now that I thought about it.

"Mr. Murkrow, please listen," I said loudly as we pursued. "We're trying to help you. If you'd just come with us, there would be no reason for violence. We want to get you to a Pokémon Center to be healed, and then we'll let you go free and you can terrorize Trainers to your heart's content! We're not trying to hurt you!" No response, and he didn't even slow down. "Ugh, fine! Natalie, Hidden Power!"

Natalie sprung forward, chirping valiantly while she flung out that sparkling attack I knew so well. The Murkrow was hit squarely in his skinny neck. He made a strangled noise and was smacked to the ground. Trembling, he propped himself up on his wings. His eyes widened- we were upon him! Mustering all the strength he had left, he darted between my legs and ran to go _down_stairs.

"Oh, no you don't." I released Mandy, blocking off the Murkrow's path. The Murkrow hissed at Mandy and spun around, but there I and Natalie were. He looked around at us, obviously becoming afraid.

It cawed raucously and attacked. Wing Attack hit Natalie in the chest. With a grunt and a thump, she was thrown across the room limply. While my hand delved into my pocket to retrieve her Pokéball, the bird ran past me and, with one powerful beat of the wings, jumped straight up to the third step of the upward stairs. It looked back at us, halting for a moment, before going on its way.

I growled, returning Natalie and Mandy simultaneously. Then I grabbed Opal's Pokéball. "Opal, come on, let's go!" I readjusted Juliet under my arm. She was beginning to come to.

Opal hopped after me quickly. "Roland, I really think you should know-"

"Will you wait?"

"It's important!"

"It can wait, Opal; geez, you're such a drama queen. You should have acted instead of sang at that Contest," I said as we got to the top of the staircase. "What is up with all the stairs? My thighs are cramping, ow, ow, ow!"

Opal jumped forward to face the Murkrow. Seeing his previous foe, he turned to face us.

"Finally," I growled. "Alright, let's try out that new move, Opal! Use Return!"

Return. It was a risky choice for me, and Opal knew it- the look she gave me said it all. It wasn't just that we hadn't practiced with it, although that was a factor, but Return was a very _special_ kind of move. And I don't mean special attack. Return's power is always fixed. No amount of luck, or crits, or anything can make it any stronger or weaker. And how is the power of Return determined? By how much affection the user has for its Trainer. I prayed desperately that Opal really did like me, somewhere inside, like Juliet said she did.

Opal sucked in her breath. From the way her ears were quivering, I knew she was nervous.

"You'll do fine," I whispered.

Her ear twitched. She had heard me. She was bolstered. She jumped at Murkrow, two long, fast bounds. And let me tell you, that bird didn't know what was coming at him. She beat that thing silly, with her ears, feet, paws. I felt a swelling of happiness, a pain that was uncharacteristic in my pride. Hmph! I would throw _this_ in Juliet's face next time she made a joke about Opal and me!

The Murkrow gave a weak caw, stumbling from Opal's attack. She grinned back at me before turning to the Murkrow again- and it was gone! Shocked, she looked up, and there he was- halfway up the stairs! He twittered at us.

I groaned. "Stairs."

But, of course, I ran after that dumb bird.

"Shock Wave, Shock Wave, Shock Wave!" I shouted again and again. Sparking, Opal tried to hit that Murkrow, but it dove this way and that and ran squiggly-piggeldy. We just couldn't land a hit. I groaned, face-palming. "Why did I get rid of Foresight for Dizzy Punch? Why? Opal, speaking of Dizzy Punch, try to get in close to use it; it's your strongest move!"

Opal twitched her tail to affirm that she'd heard and dashed straight at the Darkness Pokémon. It gave a call of surprise, but she pushed it down and used Dizzy Punch. She sprung back to avoid a halfhearted Wing Attack. The Murkrow stumbled around. My heart jumped. "Yes! He's confused, Opal! Get 'im!"

Giving me a frustrated look, the Buneary said, "_Roland_-"

But the opportunity was lost. UGH! It was running up the stairs, limping slightly from our attacks. I groaned, shooting daggers at Opal with my eyes, climbing up the stairs a little less spryly than I was able to earlier. Juliet was waking up.

"What-"

"No time! Murkrow! BubbleBeam!"

Juliet was still dazed, though, and didn't obey.

We were at the top of the tower now, the last floor- _Nowhere for that Arceus-flipping bird to run,_ I thought. But I stopped- there were two old people, a man and a woman, stooped, hunched, white-haired, and wrinkled standing there. The man's elbow was held out, and the Murkrow was alighted on it. It crowed at me.

"O-oh, sorry… was that your bird?" I asked, wincing. _Oops._

"Not really," the old man croaked, his drooping skin arranging into a smile. "This Murkrow is wild, but we like watching over the little Pokémon."

"If you want to capture this Murkrow…" the woman said in a gravelly voice.

"But, the Wildlife Protection-" I paused. _The Lost Tower is technically listed as a new area._ "And you're the first Pokémon I've seen in here," I whispered. A smile began to spread around my face.

"If you want to capture this Murkrow, there is something you should realize, or it will never allow itself to be caught," the woman continued.

"Something I should rea-" I gasped suddenly, looking at the Murkrow. "I get it now! You're a girl!" The Murkrow's crooked beak almost seemed to smile. She ran a few feathers through her beak, pleased.

"I was trying to tell you," Opal sighed.

"You seem like a kind Trainer," said the man, leaning down to place the Murkrow gently on the ground. She hopped out, halfway between them and me. "Why don't you take a shot at it."

I smiled, pulling out something that I'd picked up at Hearthome's Pokémart: a Dusk Ball. I pressed the button and the Murkrow was sucked in a starburst of shadows. I didn't even have to listen to know what the result would be.

"Her name is Raven," the woman said. Soundlessly, she held out a disc, which I accepted. It was an HM. Strength. They turned their back on me and didn't say anything else.

"Welcome to the team, Raven…"


	8. Tragedy

The rain poured, and my team and I made our way through the Trainers and sloppy mud. I saw the flashing lights of Veilstone ahead of us, the bright neon flashes of clubs and casinos and hotels visible all the way from where we stood. It was like the Vegas of Sinnoh.

"C'mon, let's go around," I said. Juliet waddled near me, her Quick Claw the only reason that she could keep up. Raven was the one perched on my shoulder, glaring balefully out with her one eye from beneath her sopping wet feathers.

"Isn't there a Gym in Veilstone?" Juliet inquired.

"Yes… but, I mean, we don't have to defeat it." I shrugged. "Maybe if we want some training. But right now, what I want to do is loop down using the Route below Veilstone City, go through Pastoria, and make our way back up to Hearthome."

Juliet looked rather dismayed. "But why?"

"Well, to train, Juliet, and more importantly to work on my Pokédex!" I was surprised. "What else?"

She shrugged, mumbling, "Veilstone just looked like fun… and then the Gym…"

My brow furrowed worriedly. What was she so upset about? Her thoughts seemed really centered around that Gym. "If it's really what you want, we can fight the Gym later," I said anxiously, kneeling beside her [Raven squawked].

Nodding- almost unhappily, even though she'd gotten what she wanted- Juliet waddled on ahead.

I threw my hands up. "Girls!" I followed her quickly.

-0-

We did as I'd suggested, looping around back up to Hearthome. As Juliet, Mandy, Natalie, Opal, and Raven ground a million wild and owned Pokémon into the dust, I secretly pulled out my Gym Badge Case, peeking inside.

My Pokémon were all just two or three levels shy of forty, but I only had two Badges. I mean, it didn't matter how strong I was, because I was just a newbie when it came down to it. Two Badges, come on, and they were Oreburgh and Eterna, which in all honesty were widely believed to be the most weenie Gyms around… but, I mean, they were the only ones I could beat.

We ended up back in Hearthome; right when we were about to take the Mt. Coronet shortcut, I noticed something beneath the Cycling Road, something I'd never noticed before. I guess it was because I'd never walked at the Road from this angle before. It was a cave. I pulled out my Town Map and noticed for the first time Wayward Cave.

"Exploring time!" I shouted, scooping up Juliet and nearly toppling Raven off over my shoulder. She cawed in protest. I clicked my Pokéballs, letting everybody out. I led them to the mouth of the cave, then turned to face them. "Alright, everybody! Here's how it's gonna go. We'll all run into the cave for five minutes in different directions, then turn back. First one to get back to the entrance wins! Oh, but I need somebody to stick with me so I don't get killed by a Zubat or something. Any volunteers? Natalie? Excellent. Ready… set… go!"

We all set off. I wasn't worried that anyone would get lost. All Pokémon had better eyesight than any human. And I had several Escape Ropes, so I'd be okay.

"Hear that~?" Natalie slowed.

"No." Pause. "Yes?"

"Crying~. Check it out~? I don't care, you've got no choice; let's go~."

I laughed. _Natalie._ I followed her, and, just as Natalie had thought, we rounded a corner and found a small girl with pink hair. She looked up, seeing me as I approached her. Eyes flooding with tears, she hugged me and moaned into my chest, "I'm Mira… I was catching Pokémon, and then I got lost… I'm so scared… Please! Please take me to the exit!"

"Uhh- okay?" I gave an awkward laugh, prying her off me.

I quickly came up with the idea that Mira was quite stupid. I mean, she had a Kadabra, a Psychic type, and she couldn't find her way out of a flipping cave. But she chattered a lot. "I'll keep your Pokémon healthy all the time! I like helpful Pokémon moves like Growl and Minimize. Those kinds of moves are my favorites. This cave… it's so easy to get confused. Do you know where we are? Roland, did you get to be so good because you're always with your Pokémon? Yes! That has to be it! Mira will try to be like you!" She stopped. "Oh! There's the exit! I want to get tougher so I won't be such a scaredy-cat. Roland, bye-bye! Thank you!"

Slowly, shyly, she smiled and stood on her tiptoes, giving me a peck on the lips. Then she waved cheerily and flounced off. I frowned.

"So does _that_ count as a first kiss?" wondered Opal, showing up behind us. She freaked me out, and made me almost jump out of my skin.

"What?"

"Well, you said the Fantina one didn't," she pointed out. "Count, I mean. So did that one?"

"I- well- will you guys stop _pressuring_ me!" I yelled, jumping up and down. "Honestly…! I will get a girlfriend by my own, woman! Arceus dangit!"

"I personally think you're a little sad," Mandy agreed. "You're ten and you haven't had a first kiss- or, technically, you've had two kisses, one with someone years older than you and one with someone years younger, but you deny that you've had any. You are so gay."

"Do I have to go kiss another random lady?"

"NO," everyone said at once.

"Good," I grumbled. "…And, I'm not ten."

Mandy blinked. "Uh, yeah, you are."

I quickly said, "Never mind," and tried to scurry off, but my Pokémon darted in front of me. I reached for my Pokéballs, but Juliet quickly BubbleBeamed them, sending them clattering to the ground.

"It was your birthday and you didn't tell us, isn't that right?" Juliet glared at me. "Oh, I hate you so much right now!"

"Hey…!" I protested weakly. "I just didn't want you guys to make a big fuss."

"We're fussing now~!" Natalie snarled huffily. "Ugh, _boys~!_ You irk me, Roland, you irk me~!"

Raven squawked indignantly, ruffling her feathers and giving me a peck in the ear.

"Ouch! Hey!" I transferred her onto my wrist and rubbed my ear with my shoulder. "Geez, guys, calm down."

"How long ago was it?" Opal demanded.

"Was what?"

"Your birthday!"

"…Two days ago…" I grumbled. "I _am_ planning to do something, you know, so don't get your Pokémon panties in a twist."

They all relaxed a little bit. "Well, fine," sighed Mandy. "But you better do something. Okay?"

"Yes, ma'am!" I saluted playfully.

We walked to the Hearthome Pokémon Center and rested up a bit. Hearthome's Pokémon Center was particularly fancy due to all of the stuck up Contest winners. As it happened, the second we entered the Pokémon Center café, we were surrounded by fans of Mandy's performance the other night. I was worried about Opal's self esteem, since nobody even remembered her, so I grabbed a hot chocolate and left quickly.

"Where to?" asked Juliet. She was on my shoulder this time, and Raven was hopping on along the ground. We got some weird looks, since 1.) I had a Piplup on my shoulder, 2.) Raven was ugly, and 3.) my Murkrow was walking instead of flying. I didn't particularly care.

"I'm thinking Veilstone. Casinos, clubs, strip clubs-" They were both giving me an incredulous look. I gave a goofy grin. "JK! The Gym, the Gym. It's Fighting type, and the leader is Maylene. A little girl. We should be able to win."

"I wouldn't underestimate any Gym Leader," Juliet remarked thoughtfully. "Battling is dangerous, Roland. You never know what could go wrong."

"Oh, come on," I scoffed. She was such a worrywart. "You don't think I'd _kill_ any of you guys, right?"

"No. I do think you could get cocky and make a dumb mistake that would in result getting one of us killed."

I sighed. "Juliet, drop it. We'll be just fine."

-0-

"Hello. I'm pleased to meet you." Crack! "I'm Maylene, and I'm the Gym Leader." Crack! "I don't really know what it means to be strong, or how I got to be the Gym Leader." Crack! "But I will do the best as I can as the Gym Leader." Crack! "I take battling very seriously." Crack! "Whenever you're ready!"

I blanched, watching her split board after board with her fist. "Little girl?" muttered Juliet.

_Okay._ I sized her up as she went to a rack of Pokéballs and selected three. _Mandy's out. Disadvantage. Natalie's attacks are bad against fighting types, so not her either. Juliet, yes. Opal, no. Raven…_ I turned my head, glancing at where she perched on my shoulder. _Urgh. Dark and flying. Dark, bad, flying, good. Will the dual type negate the effect of… oh, what the heck. I'll send her in and find out!_ "Go ahead, Raven!" She jumped to the floor, fluttering onto the battle field.

Maylene lifted a slender pink eyebrow. "That Murkrow is butt ugly."

"Yeah, yeah." I watched as she tossed out a Pokéball; a Meditite erupted in red sparks. "That's easy as pie! Raven, use Wing Attack and take it down!"

"Meditite, Detect!"

Raven's Wing Attack was glanced away from the Meditite's body, but she came back around with a hard return blow. The Meditite reeled; before it could get its wits back, Raven finished it with an Astonish, cawing harshly while jumping at it and buffeting it with her wings.

Maylene calmly returned the Meditite and reached for her second Pokéball. "I'm in a bit of a bind, aren't I?" She clicked the Pokéball button, ejecting a huge, burly Machoke. "Let's see how this one matches up!"

I grinned toothily. "Raven is gonna beat that thing into the ground! Go get it, Raven; use Payback first and come back around with Wing Attack!"

Raven hit the Machoke with Payback, but it didn't even take a step back. Maylene smiled.

"You're too cocky, Trainer. Dark type is bad against fighting. Use Stomp!"

Raven cried out in pain as her wing was crushed beneath Machoke's meaty foot. I flinched. "Raven!" I yelled, my heart breaking to see my Pokémon hurt. _I hate battling!_ How could I have made such a stupid mistake as to use a dark move? "Quick! Wing Attack, Wing Attack, Wing Attack!"

Obediently, Raven twisted around, hitting the Machoke with her wings three times in a row. I held my breath. The Machoke grabbed her by the neck and flung her across the room. She squawked in pain, but swung around and managed to use Payback instinctively, knowing that the damage would be doubled in revenge. The Machoke swayed, and before it hit the ground, Maylene returned it.

"So, gonna return that Murkrow now?" she inquired, pulling out her last Pokéball.

I grit my teeth. _No other type advantages in my entire team._ There was always Juliet, but… "No! Send out your Pokémon!"

"Will do. Meet my closer, Lucario! Go battle, Lucario."

I snarled. Lucario. Crud. Lucario were like, semi-legendary. And weren't they dual steel type? Mandy could probably defeat it with one Earthquake, and Raven's flying type moves would no longer be super effective. She had no advantage. Should I return her? No! She could do it! "Raven, use Wing Attack!"

To my dismay, the Lucario didn't even blink. It grabbed Raven by her bad wing. For a second she glared at it defiantly with her one eye, daring it to do its worst. Then it used Force Palm and slammed her into the concrete.

"Raven!" I cried, starting to step towards her. I froze just in time, looking down. This was a Gym battle. If I stepped out of the Trainer box, drawn in chalk on the floor, we would forfeit!

"You are allotted three Pokémon," Maylene said idly. "I would be willing to call a time out so that you could tend to your Pokémon."

"Thank you, Maylene," I said. I wanted to be more grateful, but my heart was constricting with pain and worry. I ran out of the Trainer's box and fell to my knees by Raven's side. The bird looked so… little, so broken. For a second, pure terror enveloped me, but then I saw the tiny fluttering of her chest. She was still breathing. "I'm so sorry," I whispered, eyes welling with tears. I pulled out my Pokéball and returned her.

"The damage could worsen if she isn't taken to a Center," Maylene said. "You're sure you're not going to forfeit?"

A friend's life was hanging in the balance. _But…_

I backed up to the Trainer's box. "Go, Mandy."

Maylene's face was disapproving and serious. "Let's finish this quickly, then."

"Yes. Use Earthquake."

Maylene stared, surprised, as Lucario fell, and slowly returned her fainted Pokémon.

"I shall admit defeat… you are way too strong. …OK. You win." Suddenly breaking her composure, her face twisted into rage as she spun around, her hand karate chopping. Crack! She stopped, watched the board split, and struck a yoga pose. She sucked in her breath deeply and turned to face me again, emotions contained once more. "That was a tough loss. I learned a lot from it. Please, accept this Gym Badge. If you have an official Pokémon League Cobble Badge, you can use the hidden move Fly outside of battle. Oh, and please take this as well. That TM60 contains the move Drain Punch. Um… that move inflicts damage, and it robs the target's HP." She walked over to me, bare feet making no sound on the ground.

My eyes stung with tears suddenly.

Maylene yawned. "Gee, I'm hungry… oh, sorry, it's nothing. I didn't say anything. Roland, I can't explain what it means to be strong. I don't know how much effort goes into being strong… but being with Pokémon lets us keep making the effort, doesn't it?" She looked at my pockets, bulging with my Pokéballs. "Your Murkrow is in critical condition. You ought to go. Wait!" I paused. "I have to give you a warning… Team Galactic-"

"In the city?"

"A tall skyscraper-"

"Overnight?"

"And warehouses, with tons of Pokémon being stolen," she finished. "You could do something about it for me."

"But Raven…"

"Yes, your Pokémon is a priority. Hurry."

-0-

As soon as I left the Gym, Dawn practically jumped on me.

"Hi, Roland! Please, can you help me? I dropped my Pokédex by accident, and Team Galactic found it. Now they won't give it back. Please, I need your help. I'll be waiting in front of the warehouses. Please come!"

I gaped helplessly, bounding forward and grabbing her shoulder. "I'm sorry, now isn't a good-"

Her eyes were suddenly brimming with tears. When had her cheery demeanor changed? "P-p-please, Roland. The pro-pro-professor will be so unhappy with me!"

"But my Pokémon-"

"Roland! Please!" She hugged me tightly. I slowly rested my chin on her hat.

She broke away. "See you there!" She skipped off.

I pulled Raven's Pokéball out, staring at it. _Y…you can hold on for a little longer, right, Raven?_

-0-

I ran through the streets of Veilstone as fast as I could, dodging street performers [of _all_ varieties] and speeding as fast as I could to the back of the city, to the Galactic warehouses. All of a sudden, Dawn came into view, chatting with the two Galactic grunts guarding the place. When they noticed me, she turned around to face me.

"Hi, Roland!" she exclaimed. "Please, can you help me? I dropped my Pokédex by accident, and Team Galactic found it. Now they won't give it back. Please, I need your help. Team up and battle with me!"

"Aren't you a little casual for this situation?" I cried, edging between her and the guards and giving them suspicious looks. But Dawn just spun me around, clasping my hands in hers.

"You and your Pokémon together with me and my Pokémon…United like this, our dream team has no chance of losing! I'm not letting these bad people get away with their dirty deeds!" Her eyes sparkled cutely, and I found myself staring. Then she twisted away, yanking out a Pokéball and throwing it with flair. Out burst a Clefairy. I myself nodded to Juliet.

Between her Clefairy and Juliet, the grunts' Dustox, Beautifly, and Stunky stood no chance. It was a boring battle, actually.

The first grunt groaned, shouting, "Aww, that stinks! Our Pokémon are chumps! We should get new ones from headquarters."

"Humph!" said the other. "Who cares about some Pokédex anyways? Team Galactic's going to own all the Pokémon in the world… No, in the universe!"

"There! Take it! Take your Pokédex! Those things we had in the warehouse've already been moved to Pastoria City anyway… So, we'll say 'You'll get yours, Roland and Dawn!' …And run like the grunts we are." They fled into the warehouse behind them. I watched them retreat, eyes narrowed. Even the grunts knew me. What was Team Galactic's game?

Dawn frowned and said in monotone, "What's going on? Why is Team Galactic out on the streets like they own the place?" Then she turned, looking very well-rehearsed, and said in a rush, "Roland, thank you, sincerely. If Professor Rowan ever find out that I lost my Pokédex, urk, I don't want to think about it. So, Roland, what are you going to do now? I'm thinking of going to Pastoria City now. The Great Marsh there is home to many kinds of Pokémon."

"I have to heal my Pokémon," I muttered, staring at my feet. _Raven._

"Well, alright, Roland!" She placed a hand on my cheek and gave me a kiss, her eyes closed. My eyes slowly closed too, and after about five seconds we broke away. "Bye-bye!"

I watched her skip away and looked down at Juliet. But the little penguin didn't have any cracks about harems or anything. She simply looked at me. "Raven."

"Right!"

We rushed to the Pokémon Center, me clutching Raven's Pokéball to my chest. I cut to the front of the line, shouting, "Emergency!" and held the Pokéball out to Nurse Joy. "Nurse Joy! My Murkrow- please-"

She took one look through the translucent Pokéball and grabbed it away. "I need a Chansey, stat!" She rushed off to the back.

There was nothing I could do but back off, ignoring the insults and challenges of the Trainers I had butted. Nothing I could do anymore. I crumpled into one of the waiting room chairs. "It's out of my hands now," I said to Juliet. She nodded, face darkened.

-0-

"…How is she, Nurse Joy?"

"We'll need a little longer. You might want to go out and we'll alert you when something happens."

"What? No! I want to be here with her!"

"It could take days, Trainer."

"Urgh…"

"There's a formidable Gym in Pastoria, you know. Leader, I mean, Crasher, Wake is of equal strength as Maylene, and you beat her."

"…But Raven got hurt in that battle… I don't want to lose- I mean, hurt somebody else in another Gym."

"You have three Badges. You've got power. You can't be afraid of Gyms now. I mean, you didn't even lose to Maylene."

"…Okay, I'll fight Wake."

"That's a fine idea."

-0-

Pastoria was beautiful. The area around it was perpetually raining, from what I'd heard, so there were some puddles. I knew we'd all have an amazing time jumping around and splashing, but none of us were really in the mood, with Raven in such a condition. I couldn't help but think that I had killed her, by not switching her out, by not forfeiting the battle, by not rushing her to a Center immediately afterwards. Killed? Why was I thinking like this? Raven wasn't dead!

"Hey, there's the Gym," Juliet mentioned. With Raven gone, she had reclaimed her spot on my shoulder.

I nodded gloomily. "OK, let's go." I looked at my pockets. "Opal's got Thunder. She'll be my primary fighter, I guess."

"Good idea," Juliet said. She paused. "Roland, about Raven."

I sighed, pushing my hair back. It had grown on this journey. "I know, I know, it wasn't my fault…" _Juliet's such a sweet Pokémon, trying to cheer me up._

"That was not what I was gonna say." She stopped, looking up at me. "I do want to be sensitive here, but I can't say it wasn't your fault, 'cause I refuse to lie. We're strong, Roland, not invincible. You can't be so cocky next time. So much worse could have happened to Raven."

I felt stung, but for some reason a feeling of warmth spread through my chest. "Why does that make me feel better, somehow?"

"Because you know that if I'm honest with you now, I'll be honest with you in everything."

"Yeah, that's why I love you." I smiled. "Oh, by the way?"

"Mm-hm?"

"That last kiss with Dawn? It counted."

"Ooh la la."

-0-

I kicked open the Gym door. "Crasher Wake, I'm here to challenge you!"

Crasher Wake, who was wearing some ridiculous, sumo wrestler-like outfit, held up a finger to stop me. He was singing, and surprisingly, his voice was good.

"The ring is my roiling sea.

The towering waves shaped me.

Crash! Crash! Crasher Wake!

Crash! Crash! Crasher Wake!

I'm the tidal wave of power to wash you away!

Put out the fire, Crasher Wake!

Run from electricity, Crasher Wake!

Ah, ah, aaaah!

The ring is my sea. "

Juliet and I clapped. It had been good, even if it hadn't made any sense. He looked at us, finally.

"Welcome! I don't get challenged very often!" he greeted us. "The glory you are now beholding is the Pastoria Gym Leader! That's right, I'm Crasher Wake! My Pokémon were toughened up by stormy white waters! They'll take everything you can throw at them and pull you under! Victory will be ours! Come on, let's get it done!"

I gave a barking laugh, glancing down at Juliet. 'So many exclamation points!' I mouthed. I reached into my pocket and clicked the Pokéball button. "Go, Opal!"

"Opal?" asked Wake.

"My Bun- WHOA! WHAT HAPPENED?" I gaped in absolute shock, for one weird second mistaking Opal for a woman. Why shouldn't I? Because she wasn't some fluffy little bunny anymore- she was two heads taller than me and all full of curves. She was a Lopunny! "When in the name of Arceus did you evolve?"

Opal ran her paw over her ears, proud, shy, and smug all at the same time. "You were in the waiting room. I didn't want you to worry about me, too, in addition to Raven."

"Wow!" I marveled. "Opal, you evolved without _any_ painkiller?" I shook my head. "You are incredible…! You were always my little toughie." I grinned foolishly, an idea creeping into my head. "Hey… don't Buneary only evolve when they have sufficient _trust_ and _love_ for their Trainers?"

Opal flushed. "H-hey, I'm taller than you now, and I can beat you up!"

"Are we going to battle?" Wake wondered. He sent out a Pokémon. With a roar, a huge Gyarados burst out.

"OH yeah!" I yelled. "Opal, use Thunder!"

Opal grinned, and dark clouds were summoned up. Thunder cracked, and a huge bolt of lightning struck down at Gyarados, missing. Opal frowned, trying twice more, never getting a hit. "UGH! Curse this body! I'm not used to it!" she complained. "Eep!" Gyarados lunged forward at her, snapping its jaws shut on her arm. She shrieked, yanking away, ripping out fur.

"Thunder! Thunder!" I shouted, jumping up and down.

The lightning struck once more, thunder roaring, electrocuting Gyarados. It swung back and forth, dazed. "Now quick- use Return!" Opal jumped forward, battering it with her ears. The huge Pokémon collapsed to the ground.

Crasher Wake grinned broadly, quite surprised. "This is where it gets exciting! Go, Quagsire!"

"We can do this, Opal. Use Jump Kick!" I knew it would hurt her should it miss, but in all this time we'd been partnered, she'd never once missed with it. When I saw the dumpy little Quagsire, I changed my mind. "Never mind, use Return again! Quagsire's part ground, I think… so, uh, Thunder wouldn't work… right?" I muttered to myself.

"Whatever!" laughed Opal. "Doesn't matter as long as I can defeat it." She jumped forward. The Quagsire proved surprisingly agile, and Opal snarled. She hit it with Return, dancing back out of range before whipping back in with several Dizzy Punches. I smiled. The Quagsire collapsed, beaten.

Crasher Wake let out a hearty, full laugh. "Hey! That there! That was a good move!" He grabbed out his last Pokéball and released his last Pokémon. I didn't recognize it, and pulled out Professor Rowan's Pokédex.

"Floatzel, the sea weasel zzt Pokémon and zzt the evolved form zzt of zzt Buizel. Its floatation sac developed zzt as zzt an zzt aid for chasing aquatic prey. Floatzel can zzt also carry people zzt on its back."

It looked very strong, although Opal was probably stronger, especially in her new form. But… she wasn't used to this form, and she was getting tired. For a second, Raven flashed before my eyes, battered and broken because of my stupid decision.

"Are you going to switch, lad?" asked Wake.

"…No." I was determined. "We can knock it out in one hit! Use Thunder, Opal!"

It missed, and Floatzel hit her hard and fast with Aqua Jet. I gasped. She reeled.

"Use Thunder!"

Zap! …_Miss!_ "No!" I gasped as Floatzel darted in, frost creeping from its teeth as it chomped down hard on Opal's neck. "OPAL! THUNDER!" The move missed again, and Floatzel began to shake her. She was making piteous noises as she tried to pull free, but only hurt herself. "O-okay… use Jump Kick, now!" Floatzel released her in anticipation of the move, but it had nothing to fear. Opal flung herself into the attack. I could see her expression change from pain to terror as she overshot it, misjudging the strength of the jump in her new hind legs. She flew past Floatzel and screamed, hitting the wall and lying, very, very still.

I gasped, absolutely stunned. I stood stock-still.

"Do you forfeit?" asked Wake, sounding strangely detached, as if he saw this so much that it was no longer disturbing.

It was as if dark clouds hung over my head. I slowly lifted my eyes to the jolly man, and he flinched back at the hurt and anger and hatred in my eyes.

"Natalie," I spat, letting her out. "_Destroy him_."

The Floatzel did not last a chance to Natalie's rage as she tore it up with X-Scissor. Wake looked shocked. He broke out of the Trainer's box, falling to his knees next to his slashed and bloodied Pokémon. "Floatzel!" He looked up at me, eyes full of anger. "Floatzel could die, you monster! I have to get him to a Pokémon Center! Here, take the Fen Badge. You're worse than Team Galactic!" He flung a small metal pin at me. Juliet picked it up as I emotionlessly walked to Opal, returned her to her Pokéball, and left the Gym. For the second time today, I was running to a Pokémon Center with the blood of a dying Pokémon on my hands.

-0-

I sat slouched in a Pokémon Center chair, head tilted back to the ceiling, hat tipped over my eyes. My arms were resting on the armrests, and beneath my hat, my eyes were closed as I just listened to the sound of the rain pattering on the Center roof.

I was miserable.

There was a reason I didn't want to be Trainer in the first place. When you watch those annual Elite Four Tournament premieres, it's horrible. Normal Pokémon Trainer's don't kill for sport, but when League Trainers- i.e. Gym Leaders, Elite Four members, and the Champion see the chance, they take it.

And now I'd killed a Pokémon too. A sentient, living, breathing, thinking Pokémon. And the worst thing… my hands curled into fists. It had felt good. I'd wanted to do it, wanted to tear up that Floatzel in revenge for that soft, squishy, cracking noise Opal had made when she slammed into the wall. _I don't regret it, either,_ I thought defiantly. _I would kill that thing again and again if I got the chance._

And it was true.

The PA crackled. "Trainer Roland, your Pokémon are ready."

I sucked in my breath, my heart bracing itself for breaking. I righted my hat and stood up. Juliet was inside her Pokéball, even though I knew she hated it. I didn't want them to see me when I got the news; I had left them in the Center daycare for a little while.

This, I was facing alone.

My feet dragged as I approached the counter. I placed my palms on the tabletop, avoiding Nurse Joy's eyes as I muttered, "And? How are they?"

Nurse Joy smiled, joy lighting up her face. "Your Murkrow and Lopunny will be just fine!"

My heart was constricted and I let out a short breath, suddenly unable to breathe. My world blurred with tears and I choked, dropping to the floor and sobbing.

"Th-they're okay… th-they're okay…"

Nurse Joy came around the counter and kneeled near me. "Congratulations, Roland. It was close, but they're going to live."

"They're going to live!" I broke down again, tears and snot streaming. I laid my head on her shoulder and let her hug me. "H-how come happiness h-hurts so much?"

"Well, it's like this. If you were just happy and that little pang in your chest i_didn't_/i happen, it would mean you didn't care about them. That pain is just Arceus's way of reminding you that you're alive. Pokémon don't feel that. After all, when it comes down to it, they're just animals. We humans are Arceus's greatest creations."

I smiled through my tears. "Th-thank you, Nurse Joy. Y-y-you saved them."

"Me? Oh, no. It was all thanks to Chansey, and to you."

"Me?"

"Yes! You see, the whole time they were unconscious, they kept murmuring, 'Roland. Roland.'"

"Raven too? She's never even spoken!" I shook my head in teary wonder.

"Raven too."

-0-

I walked down Route 214, leaving a resort and strolling past the Valor Lakefront. I wanted to explore it, but it had been blocked by scientists for a while now. But this time, there was a woman talking heatedly with those scientists. I recognized her from Eterna City.

I trotted over. "Hey, uh, Cindy?"

She looked up, feathered hair braids bouncing. "Oh, hello, long time no see! It's Cynthia, by the way. How is your Pokédex filling up?"

"Yeah, it's going fine," I said.

She tilted her head. "Where are your Pokémon?"

I patted my pockets. "All five of them in their Pokéballs. I need some alone time right now."

She blinked. "Did you lose someone?"

I shook my head. "Killed one of Wake's Pokémon. His Floatzel. Almost lost a few of mine, though."

She nodded sympathetically. "That's tough. I'm impressed that you managed to get his Floatzel. He love, sorry, loved that thing."

I still wasn't guilty about it. "Yeah, well. How are you doing?"

"Me?" She looked in the direction of the lake. It wasn't visible from here, thanks to the scientists and the trees. "I came to research the folklore about the lake, but… Well, it doesn't appear as if the lake is open to the public now. Have you heard the folklore about it? They say there is an island inside the lake. And inside that island is a mirage Pokémon. No one must enter the chamber of that Pokémon… Sorry to change the subject, but have you seen the group of Psyduck on Route 210?" I shook my head. Psyduck? "You haven't seen them? By the café on Route 210. There's a group of Psyduck huddled with their heads in their, uh, hands…? Well, I just used a special medicine on them to cure them and clear the path. You're working on a Pokédex, so it would be worthwhile for you to explore the area past them. I went on a big adventure with a Pokédex when I was younger. I hope you get to meet every kind of Pokémon there is to see." She smiled kindly. "Who knows? It may help you with the secret of the mirage Pokémon. See you later!"

"Bye, Cynthia," I said. She paused before she could walk away.

"Psyduck are known to suffer from chronic headaches," she said, "but no one's been able to figure out what triggers the headaches. Oh, yes! Can I ask you a big favor? I want you to deliver this Old Charm to my grandma in Celestic Town. I know there are some rare Pokémon between here and Celestic town, so it will be worth your while to go. My grandma has sort of this bossy atmosphere about her. I think you'll recognize her right away. Yes, I'm sure you will. She's the elder of Celestic Town. And the location… Look on your Town map. You can't miss it."

"Sure, I'd love to. It'll be on my way anyway," I said, accepting an ornately carved box she handed me.

"OK, I'm counting on you! See you again down the road!"

"OK, Cynthia, bye. And I'm sure I will."


	9. Foreshadowing

I eventually decided that Route 210 was the bane of my existence. It had everything a Trainer would _hate._ Fog that makes sure that _eight_ out of _twenty _moves miss- that's an actual statistic, there; I counted using Opal's Return- Trainers that just come one after another after another, the fog, wild Pokémon by the dozens, the fog…

I really didn't like that fog.

"It's times like this when I wish your wings weren't hurt," I sighed to Raven. "Then you could Fly me to Celestic Town."

"Or just defog the place~," Natalie remarked.

"Oh yeah." I took off my hat and brushed my bangs away. "Ugh. When is this Route going to end, again? And _don't _tell me there's fog in Celestic Town, too!"

"There isn't," said Mandy. Not that she had any idea, but it reassured me.

"Good," I groaned. "If I stay much longer in this fog, I think I'll go blind!"

"Anatomically impossible," said Juliet. A wild Kricketune tried to creep up on us, but she Drill Pecked it and sent it off squealing. "Am I the only one who thinks this fog is clearing?"

"Yeah, I think it is!" I exclaimed. "Let's go!" We all broke into a run.

Suddenly, the fog gusted away all at once, and we were standing before Celestic Town. It was so little! It consisted of just a couple of houses and a Pokémon Center. The ground slowly sloped down, like a funnel, and at the bottom was some sort of cave, with a shrine before it. And a single Galactic grunt.

Frowning, I ran over to the stairs that headed down to the cave. An old, wizened, hunched woman was staring down at the grunt clucking her tongue. I went up to her.

"What's with the Galactic grunt?" I asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but there's an odd spaceman in front of the ruins. There isn't anything there, but that only seemed to make him get angry," she said furiously. "He's saying he will blow the town up with a bomb… The nerve of it all… If only I were younger, I'd punish that spaceman with my Pokémon…"

"H-hold it!" I grabbed her shoulder, jaw working noiselessly. "Did you say _bomb? _This is insane! He's gonna kill everyone!" There was no time for the stairs; I slid down the rail, ducked under the shrine, and ran up to him.

The cave he was standing before was actually quite majestic. Thanks to torches mounted on the outside, I could see a few feet into it, the rocky walls and crevices illuminated brightly before going on to be quenched by darkness. Two slabs of stone were set on either side of the cave entrance. They looked ancient, and I could barely make out some sort of paint on it. A giant etching of a Pokémon-like creature covered one of them… There was some fading text etched in as well… 'The flow of time never stops… The past, future, and present…"

The other one had another large beast similar to a Pokémon, and similar text as the first. 'Space is ever-expanding dimensions… Our spirits, too, are as space…'

But I ignored them. Everyone was in danger.

"This town is insignificant!" the grunt was raging. "There's nothing of value here. It doesn't need to exist, so I'll blow it up with a Galactic Bomb! If you try to mess with me, I'll shut you down with a Pokémon battle." He noticed me. "So, what's it going to be? Are you going to mess with me?"

"Heck yeah!" I yelled, plunging my hand into my pocket for a Pokéball.

"You dare to oppose Team Galactic? That means you're taking on the world… No, the universe, even! Go, Beautifly!"

"Juliet!" I shouted. "Use Drill Peck!"

Juliet lunged at him, but the butterfly nimbly dodged her attack, using a Wing Attack to throw her to the ground. She twisted and spat out a BubbleBeam, knocking it out instantly.

"Whaaat?" cried the grunt. "No! Go, Croagunk!"

"Easy," I smirked. "Juliet, finish it with Brine!" A huge geyser of water burst up, throwing it into the air and smashing it to the ground again.

The grunt gaped, stunned by his loss. "Too much to handle… I can't do anything here… This place is nothing! I-I'll be happily rid of this place!"

I breathed out as he scampered off, but tensed again when that old lady came down the stairs to me. I made sure to stand up straight and fix my jacket. She really made me feel as if she was scrutinizing me for anything I might be doing wrong.

But she simply clapped, delighted. "Oh, you were magnificent! Aren't you quite the Trainer? As the elder of Celestic Town, I give you my thanks."

I jerked. "Elder? Why, I have a package for you!" I pulled my backpack around and rummaged around in it. "Here you go." I gave her the box Cynthia had given me. She opened the lid and looked momentarily surprised.

"Oh? That Old Charm… what's that? You say Cynthia entrusted you with it to deliver to me? That Cynthia… she's my granddaughter. This Old Charm is something made in Celestic Town long, long ago. It was made in honor of a mythical deity said to have created Sinnoh. These Old Charms are still discovered now and again. Here." She pulled out a leather string and threaded the Old Charm onto it. The Charm had two black feathers dangling on either side of a wooden swirly carving, and from the carving hung a tiny cloth bag. She put it on over my neck. "I sense that you have great turmoil in your life. The forces of good and evil are pulling at you, and hopefully this will help you make your choice."

"…Thank you?" I cupped the Old Charm in a hand, examining it.

"Since you're in Celestic Town, why not look around inside the ruins?"

Ruins…? Ah, the cave. I peered into the blackness again and scooped Juliet up. "Come on, Raven, Juliet."

This cave was nothing like the Mt. Coronet tunnel I had taken as a shortcut to Hearthome. The air of mystery was all around it, the smell of ancient things- like parchment- permeating through it like a hot knife through butter. I blindly followed the tunnel, feeling my way, until it began to lighten and I broke into a cavern at the end. Torches were mounted all along the walls, and at the far side of the cavern was an ancient cave painting. I approached it wordlessly. Mysterious designs covered a whole section of the wall.

"There are three strange things forming a triangle," I murmured. "In the middle of them, a shining sphere…? What is this all about?"

I jumped when again Cynthia's grandma came up behind me.

"The cave painting's meaning seems to be this," she said. "There existed a being… A being so powerful, it was considered a deity at the time. Opposing this powerful being were three Pokémon. The three kept balance with the being, as if they formed a triangle. It's an ancient legend of Sinnoh that is still told in Celestic Town." She turned to me. "Oh, yes. I found something useful. You should take this. It belonged to my granddaughter, but she doesn't use it anymore. It's HM03, Surf."

"Here, Juliet," I said, handing the disc directly over to the little penguin.

"If a Pokémon learns Surf, it can carry you across water and the sea. But my granddaughter said something about this hidden move… Oh, yes! To use Surf outside of battle, the Hearthome Gym Badge must first be obtained. On that matter, you will have to handle it yourself, I'm afraid." She looked down at Juliet. "Is that your only water Pokémon?" she asked abruptly.

"Yes," I answered. "Her name is Juliet. She's a Piplup, as you can see. She was a gift- from Professor Rowan."

"Rowan…" she mused. "A crafty man, not to be trusted."

"Crafty?" Growling, I loomed over her. "The professor is _extremely _honorable. He even promised me, an eleven year old, a job in his labs once I'm done with his Pokédex!"

"_His _Pokédex?" wondered Cynthia's grandmother. "I was under the impression that only Oak did the Pokédex project… curiouser and curiouser." She looked down at Juliet again. "In any case, Surf won't do you much use if you want to cross the water, anyway, as long as that one is your only water type. She's too small to carry you anywhere." She patted my shoulder and left the ruins. I grumbled to myself, making sure to wait a couple of minutes before leaving myself so I wouldn't run into her again.

"I don't like her," I snapped to Juliet.

She snorted, "I can tell." Raven cawed, agreeing. I looked up ahead as we exited back into Celestic Town.

And froze.

Juliet took a few steps before me, then, realizing that I wasn't following, turned to look back at me. "Roland?"

"Into your Pokéball, Juliet," I said harshly, fists clenching and unclenching.

"What? But I hate-"

"_Into your Pokéball._" I clicked the button, forcibly sucking her back in. Then I took a deep breath and looked up at Cyrus, who was standing in front of the ruins.

He was like a deer stuck in headlights, staring back at me with wide eyes, breathing slightly labored with nerves. He sucked in oxygen and pushed his bangs back, just like I do.

"Stop following me," I snapped, furious, taking a few rapid steps.

He grabbed my shoulder to prevent me from leaving. "I'm not following you, Roland." He looked around. "…There appears to have been an insignificant struggle here. Everyone should step back and view things from a bigger perspective, don't you think?" He looked at me again, his eyes almost pleading: _Believe me, please believe me. _"Yes, a bigger perspective, one that is on a universal scale."

"Why are you even here right now?" I yelled, trying to pull away, but his grip was like iron. "Let me go!"

"Roland, I seek the power to create a new world, a world without strife- don't you get it? It's for a good cause, Roland…" He sighed. "However, that power seems to be unavailable here... If you discover any power derived from the legends of Sinnoh, inform me. Please. For that power is what I need to create my new world."

I stared, scouring his face for any trace of the familiarity I was used to. "You're crazy," I whispered. Then, face twisting into derision and hatred, I spat, "Get out of my life!" I jerked away unexpectedly, and though he made a snatch for me, I ran up to the top of the steps, prepared to flee this horrible town forever. That's when his last words, floating after me like a ghost, made me halt.

"I'm the leader of Team Galactic!"

My fists slowly clenched. I spun around, staring at him, his bluish-brown hair, his pointy cheekbones. My eyes narrowed, glittering and threatening to spill tears. I turned and ran away, pulling my Bike out as I went.

"D-defeat Fantina?" I whispered to myself as Celestic Town dwindled to nothing behind me. "F-f-fine. I'll go defeat F-Fantina."

-0-

The next week was filled with just training. Pushing my Pokémon to their limits, fighting so many weak Trainers that it was almost boring. I was simmering and irate for days on end, much to Juliet's annoyance and despair. I knew that I wasn't being fair to take it out on her. It was just, even _seeing_ Cy- _that man _made me so angry! I growled a little deep in my throat.

"Look, you can talk to me, you know," she shouted angrily after I had ignored her for almost an hour. "I'm sorry, do you not remember me? Juliet? Your first Pokémon? I don't think we've met, 'cause I certainly don't remember _you_! You can't be the sweet Roland _I_know!"

I stopped, sighing, pushing back my bangs. I turned to face her. "…Sorry, Juliet, I know you're right. I've been in a horrible mood since Celestic. It's not fair for you." I brightened somewhat. "But I have a surprise planned tonight, so that'll make up for it, right?"

She immediately became all squealy and girly like girls do. "A surprise? Like what, like what?"

"It's a _surprise, _silly, you can't know." I clicked the VS Seeker. "Alright, let's get that Ruin Maniac! Look, he has a Geodude. Use BubbleBeam, Juliet!"

The day was filled with cheery training. Everybody kept chattering about the big surprise. Girls. I grinned slightly. Only Raven and I were restraining ourselves- me 'cause I already knew what it was, Raven because she was just antisocial like that.

Eventually, getting tired, we all ended up curled in or around my sleeping back at the Hearthome Pokémon Center. My eyes kept drooping; I was exhausted. I sipped a cappuccino in order to keep myself awake.

Of course, that proved unnecessary when Natalie came up and whacked me on the back of the head with a feeler.

"Come on, Roland, don't go to sleep now~!" she yelled. "You owe us a surprise, you promised~! So hop to it, boyo~!"

I laughed awkwardly, rubbing the bump on my head. "OK, OK! Don't X-Scissor me. Or Bug Buzz. …_Or_ Hyper Beam." I shuddered. "_Please _don't Hyper Beam me."

"OK… so get on with it," Mandy said. She, Juliet, Opal, and Natalie edged closer. Raven hopped down my arm to join them.

"Here we go!" I said, pulling my Bag up. "The surprise is my late birthday party. And I got you all presents!" I pulled several boxes, gift wrapped, topped with bows, and having tags giving their ownership to one of my Pokémon.

They marveled as I ushered them in and they looked for gifts addressed to them.

"Why did you get _us_presents, Roland? It's your birthday party." Opal asked, though clutching her gift box tightly to her chest.

I shrugged, smiling shyly. "There's not anything that I want, and I didn't want you guys going to the trouble. So for my birthday, I wanted to give you guys presents. As a thank you."

"For what?" wondered Mandy.

"Just for battling for me. Risking your lives. Go on, open them up!"

They couldn't contain their excitement. "Alright~!" yelled Natalie, tearing the wrapping open with X-Scissor. Opal pulled at the bow with her paws. Mandy bit the wrapping with her teeth and ripped at it. I pulled the bow off for Raven and let her do the rest with her beak. The only one who didn't have a gift was Juliet, who was looking rather upset at being overlooked.

"Woooow!" exclaimed Opal in delight when she pulled her present out, a Soothe Bell choker. She carefully adjusted it and put it on.

"Here," I said, handing her a mirror. "It looks great!"

"What does this do?" she wondered.

I explained it to her. The Soothe Bell soothed its wearer and calmed it, upping its affection for the Trainer- which was perfect, since she had a move like Return in her repertoire.

"Also, it's pretty," I added, grinning sheepishly. The big furry rabbit gave me a hug around the neck. I squirmed away. "Arceus above, you're taller than me! For the love of Darkrai…!"

"Whoa!" exclaimed Mandy, pulling out a red clip. "Is this for my bow?"

"Yup. You affix the ribbon on the barrette so it'll clip on and you don't have to worry about it falling off anymore."

"Thanks, Roland!"

Raven was just staring down into her box, her one eye wide, surprised, and alarmed.

I edged closer to her. "Don't worry, Raven. I'm not forcing you into anything." I pulled the Dusk Stone out, showing her how it glinted darkly in the light. "I'll keep it right here in my pocket, beside your Pokéball. When you think it's time to evolve, just imagine yourself doing it, and poof! Before you know it, you'll be an elegant Honchkrow." If birds could smile, I think Raven was giving me a small one. She ran her torn wing over her head bashfully.

While those three admired their gifts and compared it to the others', Juliet was looking seriously down. She finally sidled up to me and said out of the corner of her beak, "And me, Roland? Didja get me anything?"

I grinned. "Look, Juliet, I know you. You're more mature than them- Mandy's all tough girl and doesn't want people to know what she feels, Natalie is WAY too obsessed with battling, as if that measures her wealth, and Raven- well, I honestly have no idea about Raven. I knew you wouldn't be so preoccupied with a present. They might take it to heart, but you'd understand that we've got limited funds."

"Oh, yeah… right."

"Of course, that's why I traded with a guy in the Underground and did some serious bartering to get you this." Out of my pocket I pulled a leather string. Threaded on it was gorgeous, crystalline gem- shaped exactly like a water drop.

Juliet gasped, grabbing for it. Laughing, I put it on over her head.

"This was specially made," I informed her. "See those little flecks of dark blue floating around in the Mystic Water? A Blue Plate. That, like, ups your water attacks by four times or something, I don't know the specifics, all that I know is that it's beautiful and precious- and therefore _exactly_right for you. My first Pokémon."

"This is beautiful, Roland," she said, cupping it in one wing and blinking rapidly. Her eyes were glistening wetly. "Thanks."

"Look, if you cry, I'm going to, and that'll ruin my reputation with the others, mm'kay?"

Juliet smiled a watery smile. "Right." Then we hugged.

-0-

Hearthome Gym was tall, eerie, spooky, and mysterious. It was dark purple, and really, the only recognizable difference between it and the Lost Tower was that the Gym was not in a state of horrible disrepair. I stared up at it, fidgeting.

"He's nervous," Mandy remarked.

"Why's he nervous~?" Natalie asked nervously. "If he's nervous, should I be nervous~?"

"It's 'cause he's about to fight his little girlfriend," giggled Juliet. I flushed, embarrassed beyond belief. My Pokémon!

"Look guys," I said, pointing a finger, "you _know _I would've never kissed Fantina if I knew who she was! So… yeah!"

Raven gave a little 'kekeke.' I silenced her with a look.

"No time like the present," Opal remarked. "Let's go in and show her what's what."

"Yeah," I agreed. Better set her straight about the whole… you know.

As soon as I walked in, I felt that something was different. It didn't take a sleuth to figure out that the whole building was set in a Trick Room.

"AGHH~!" Natalie hit herself on the head repeatedly. "I HATE puzzles! ARCEUS DANGIT! I just want to storm in, wipe this Fantina chick out, collect the Badge, and be on my merry way!"

"Uhh, no," I said. "I am _not_using a bug type against ghosts. It's psychic you're good with, remember?"

Natalie grumbled to herself.

We took an automated lift up to the second floor. Set up right out of the tiled floor was a sign. It had a math equation on it, and three doors behind it- each with a different answer pasted on them.

"Well _that's_easy," I said, flicking open the top of my Pokétch. "My Pokétch's calculator will be more than enough for this." I quickly entered in the equation and looked at the answer. The door to the far right would be correct, but… "Wonder what happens if I go through this door instead?" I wondered out loud, walking to the middle door and pushing it open.

Inside, I was startled by a Trainer with several Gastly floating around him.

"You answer the question wrong, and you pay!" he laughed, sending his Gastly at me.

Well, I defeated him with little ceremony, and left the room quite excited.

"What're you getting all wiggly about?" Opal asked.

"This Gym! There will be SO many Gym Trainers! Eee!" I squealed, jumping up and down like a little girl. "This is gonna be great!"

My Pokémon shared a look. "Gay," they agreed.

"Am NOT!"

We entered the next room. Inside was a picnicker, of all things. "Guess Fantina has really low recruiting rates for this place, eh?" I muttered out of the corner of my mouth.

The picnicker pouted at my comment. "Hey, you got the question wrong just so you could battle me, didn't you?"

I blinked, unimpressed. "Yes. Yes, I did."

The rest of Fantina's Gym went by without any trouble at all. Beating her fifteen or so Gym Trainers was easy as pie, and before I knew it, I was standing in front of the door to her chamber.

"Here you go, guys; pass it around," I said, handing Opal a Hyper Potion.

We went inside.

The chamber was dreary and gloomy. Light bounced off Fantina's dress, which was purple with a ridiculous amount of beads and sequins- with the yellow X affixed to one hip, she looked like the spitting image of a Drifblim.

"Ohohoho! Finally you have arrived!" Before I knew what was happening, she sidled up to me, shimmying against my body. "I come from a faraway country."

"Uhh… yay?" I said, a little more than flustered.

"Since coming here to Sinnoh, always I try to learn… new things." She was breathing in my ear _quite _uncomfortably! "I say to myself, enfin, I will excel. That's why I dress this way. C'est une performance! Also I study Pokémon very much. I have come to be Gym Leader. And, uh, so it shall be that you challenge me. But I shall win. That's what a Gym Leader does, non?"

I was relieved- and more than a little creeped out- when she finally drew away. Juliet, Raven, Opal, and I were sort of stunned by her brazen advance, but Mandy and Natalie were beside themselves with laughter. Fantina pulled out a Pokéball from her bra, of all places, and threw it out to the stage.

First up was a Drifblim- I'd seen them before, in picture books. I nodded to Mandy. She trundled out to the field.

"Rock Throw!" I commanded. She slammed her fists on the ground, and a huge boulder fell from the ceiling and knocked Drifblim to the ground.

"Shadow Ball!" A sphere of shadowy light zinged at Mandy and exploded on her chest. She stumbled back, grimacing.

"Hold on, Mandy, you can do it. Use Rock Blast!"

One, two, three hits. Drifblim went down. Fantina pouted.

"Gonna surrender? 'Cause I'm on fiyah!" I gloated.

"Never give up, never surrender!" she retorted- at least she was more concentrated on the battle now instead of trying to be sexually appealing. Because that was just creepy.

The next Pokémon, I smirked at. "A Gengar? Poison and ghost. Easy as winking. Get it, Mandy, you know what to do."

She did. I braced myself as she used Earthquake. The poison side of the Gengar absolutely quailed in terror, and it went down in a single hit.

Fantina looked Astonished. [See? That's a ghost joke, there. I'm just so dang funny.] "Oh, heavens. What is this? Is this my last Pokémon?"

"You better believe it!"

I watched as Fantina released a particularly tough looking Mismagius. I set my teeth. "Alright, Mandy, you've got no type advantage here, so tread carefully."

"I know!"

"And no ground moves! It's got Levitate!"

"I _know!_"

Before Mandy had a chance to do anything, the Mismagius darted forward on Fantina's behest and spewed a Toxic on her. I gasped as Mandy went into little convulsions.

"Alright, that's enough for you!" I said worriedly, returning her. "Fine, you like to play rough, Fantina? I'll play rough!" …Although I got the feeling from her silly grin that she was seeing some innuendo there… "Go, Opal!"

Opal ran out to take Mandy's place, and Fantina laughed heartily.

"Oh, you seelly leetle Trainer. That ees a normal type. No good against ghosts- it cannot hit us!"

"Yeah, and you can't hit me! Use Thunder, Opal!"

Though the Mismagius tried to use Shadow Punch, the attack was absorbed into Opal's blessed normal type skin. I'd never been so glad to have a normal type in my life. Dark clouds rolled in overhead, and with a crack, a wicked bolt of lightning dropped down, felling Mismagius. Fantina stood stock-still, disbelieving. Then she began to clap.

"I am dumbfounded! So very, very strong! You, your Pokémon, so strong! Your power is admirable! I shall honor it with this Gym Badge! Five Gym Badges... But you must not forget this. There are many other trainers. Strong Trainers, too. There are many more in Sinnoh. Have patience! You must become stronger, one at a time."

I was a little surprised at her change of attitude. "Uh, not going to hit on me or anything?"

"Non, non. 'Twas a tactic to catch you, as they say, off the guard? Unless, of course, you want me too." She batted her eyelashes.

"No, no, uh, non! No thanks! I'll just take the Badge and run- I mean, go, please!" My voice was getting really high and squeaky. Fantina sulked, disappointed, but handed me the Badge and a TM of Shadow Ball and let me go in peace.

I exited the Gym, very disgruntled, and bumped into a familiar face.

Cynthia looked very surprised. "I'm so glad to see you! You're not very easy to track down, you know."

"Yeah, sorry," I said, shrugging. "Trainer. I get around a lot, y'know?"

"Right. Well, I've been looking for you."

Really? "What for?"

"To thank you. My grandma told me about what took place in Celestic Town. Thanks for what you did in the ruins!"

My pulse upped as I thought about Cyr- that man.

Realizing that I wasn't going to say anything in this awkward silence, Cynthia sighed. "That Team Galactic… I thought they were just an eccentric bunch of, I don't know, freaks." Well, she had the freaks part right. "You know, talking about how they're going to make a new universe and all."

I nodded. "And that way they dress, too. Weird!"

"Yeah! I thought they were harmless. But it appears as if they're a lot more trouble than I thought… I mean, stealing and hoarding Pokémon…"

"That's just plain wrong." I shook my head. "Come on. Trouble? They tried to blow me up!" I thought for a second. "On two occasions, actually; in Celestic and then that one time in Eterna. Nearly killed one of my Pokémon in Eterna."

"What?" Cynthia exclaimed. "The explosion in Eterna was their doing?" She looked away, gaze darkening. "I never knew… wow. But anyway, let's stop talking about morbid things. Did you find the ruins interesting at all?"

"Yeah, they were amazing! I want to be a scientist, you know."

"Yep, I heard it from Professor Rowan. If that's the case, you know what? You ought to visit the library in Canalave. Canalave City, that is. They've got some ancient books you might find interesting."

I brightened considerably. The Canalave Library- the only library in all of Sinnoh! Oh, how I'd love to go! …It was, of course, way out of my way… I don't know.

Cynthia noticed my indecision. "It may also be of help to the completion of your Pokédex," she persuaded in a sing-song voice.

Well, that was reason enough for me! "Alright, I'll go!" I decided.

She clapped her hands excitedly- and maybe a little relieved? "That's great, Roland. Well, I've got things to do, places to go. OK, bye-bye for now!"

After that she left without waiting for a goodbye. I watched her go, a faint smile on my face.

"She's nice," I said to Juliet. "She's always so helpful, too!"

But Juliet's face was dark. "I don't know, Roland. She's pretty fishy, if you ask me. Always showing up _just_when we need her? Giving us pointers when we've got no direction? And if you remember, bad things always happen in the places she directs us to. I don't know, Roland, I'd steer clear of Canalave City if I were you."

I was shocked by her attitude, affronted- and a little wounded. "Juliet! Don't be so rude. She's never done anything but helped us!"

"But-"

"No! No buts, Juliet, we're heading to Canalave!"

She looked at me. With a deep sigh, she said, "Alright, Roland. Alright. But mark my words: you trust this Cynthia, and it's gonna come back and bite you in the butt sooner or later. Mark my words."

* * *

><p><strong>Always saw Fantina as a cougar. In any case. Is this foreshadowing I sense?<strong>

**Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed and sorry for the wait. Currently doing the July version of NaNoWriMo, so until July's over, I probably won't work much on this. Which is a shame, because Canalave has a huge twist- one of my favorite parts of the story. Mm. Plot.**

**Review! Review review review!**

**Love you guys, you're all amazing. Max out~!**

**[Alternative title to this chapter: "All the Best Cowboys"]**


	10. A Horrific Myth

**Hey, look, double digits!**

**Expect a twist. A tragic one.**

* * *

><p>When I was really little, I wanted to be a Pokémon Trainer.<p>

My dad loved Pokémon, you see. I hazily remember a big purple Pokémon, maybe a Skuntank or Espeon- I remember its soft, cozy fur. I'd play with it, and Dad would train in the front yard, and I'd watch.

Dad wasn't a Pokémon Trainer. He worked in the Fuego Ironworks, near Floaroma. Ironic, isn't it- nearly being killed by Galactic grunts within miles of the place where Dad would head off to every morning?

Yeah, Dad had always wanted to be a Trainer. He would watch the championships every year; he would count down the days on a little calendar in the kitchen. Trainers from all over the world, gathering in Sinnoh to try their hand at defeating Sinnoh's Elite Four and becoming our Champion? He'd rather chop off his arm than miss a single round. I guess none of us were very surprised when he left. I was eight, old enough to see how fidgety and discontent Dad had been. Mum was the only one who didn't see in coming. She was shocked when he didn't come home from work one night, and when she got a call the next morning from Oreburgh. I was standing right next to her; I remember the words. "Honey, I love you and I'm okay, but I won't be coming home for some time now."

Well, two years passed- three, now; his disappearing act had happened a week before my birthday- and he didn't return at all. 'Some time?' Everyone knew it. I did, for sure. He left us.

I didn't want to be a Pokémon Trainer anymore. In fact, I'd given _that_ dream up at age five, when Dad stopped playing with me so that he could train more. It's not like he even battled with his Pokémon. He was just a selfish old codger with a stupid, unattainable dream.

I saw a special about Oak Labs only days before Dad left. That's when I decided. One day, I would be working with Professor Oak. But I guess fate has a funny way of twisting your plans around its little finger. And Rowan Labs will be even better for me, because it's minutes from home.

But I sound all depressing now. I digress.

-0-

"Canalave Cityyyyy!"

I whooped as I jumped off the boat. I'd gotten us a ferry from the docks in Jubilife to the small island where Canalave was located. In fact, Canalave _was_ the island. There was nothing else here!

"Let's go to the Pokémon Center," Mandy said. She was a bit woozy. We'd fought tons of Trainers on that ferry, and I'd used her a lot of the time. She was looking a bit faint.

I couldn't help but stick out my lip a little. She was right, of course, but… "Alright, to the Pokémon Center, but then we're going to the Canalave Library. I'll _die_ if I don't get to see it!"

"And the Gym?" Juliet asked, tilting her head a little.

Natalie was trailing behind us, all depressed. I glanced back at her. She was gloomy because she knew I would never use her in this upcoming Gym battle. Canalave's Gym Leader used steel types, and I would never forgive myself to see her little body crushed underneath thousands of tons of rock and steel.

"Let's not," I said. She looked a little taken aback. "Come on, Juliet. You may be able to hold your own, and Mandy has a type advantage, but we've- I've- nearly lost you guys in Gym battles. Even Fantina could have gone terribly wrong if we hadn't been lucky."

"Mandy knows Flamethrower," Juliet said hopefully. "Isn't that good against steel?"

"Yeah, I taught it to her by TM. But she's only just learned it, and it's a special move."

"Huh?" She wasn't following me.

"There are two different kinds of attack, Juliet. Special attack and regular old attack. Graveller like Mandy specialize in regular attack, and their special attack power is horrible. I doubt Flamethrower would be very strong at all. I only taught it to her to counteract her weakness to grass types." I sighed deeply. My father had taught me all that.

"Oh, forget him, Juliet," Opal said sagely, hopping up to match my stride. "One Gym battle won't matter. There are other Gyms in Sinnoh!"

"Two, other than this one," Juliet reminded her.

Raven squawked. I looked up. "Raven's right. There's the Pokémon Center!"

And so we ran into Canalave City.

All of us were shocked by it, really. We'd expected Canalave to be some secluded nowhere town, but it was really one gigantic wharf! The ocean emptied out into it, carving the city in half. One of those bridges that goes up and down kept both halves connected to each other, and at least a hundred boats, varying from cruise ships to rowboats, were docked in the bay. There were people everywhere, with more sailors than anything, and there- on the other side of the city- I could see the tall, Victorian-era looking Canalave Library. Right beside it was the Canalave Gym.

"Well, to the Center~!" Natalie took the lead. The hubbub of it all, the glistening of the foam-capped waves, the seabirds screaming and wheeling above us, and the hustle and bustle of a thousand people, had lifted her spirits, it seemed. Or maybe she was just happy that she wasn't going to be left out of a Gym battle, because there would be no Gym battle. Either way, she was more cheerful.

We entered in. Even the inside of the Center smelled a lot like fish, and the decorating was more like a tavern than anything else. It had a bar, where foaming mugs of something were being handed out- _please, don't let it be alcohol, I hardly need a drunk Mandy on my hands!_- and a huge rack that came from a Stantler was mounted above the hearth. There was even a fireplace, with a gigantic dead Seaking on the mantle!

I returned all of the girls to their balls, except Juliet, of course, who was plopped down on a tray and taken to the back. My other Pokéballs were placed in the healing machine and promptly handed back to me, and Juliet was brought back out from where she had been healed by Potion.

I left the Pokémon Center after making a reservation for the night. Emerging back out into the salty sea air, I was shocked, and made a little guilty, by who I saw peering about on the bridge.

Even though I doubt you guessed it, I'll be nice and tell you anyway. There was Markus, my best friend who I'd forgotten all about on this incredible journey.

As if he sensed me watching him, he jumped and spun around. He immediately tensed and ran off, dodging around people quickly.

I was it quick pursuit. I shoved people aside, yelling "Sorry!" over my back. My heart was racing, and I felt more than a little regret. I totally forgot about Markus! In fact, I hadn't even called my own Mum since I'd left… she must be so worried. Maybe she even sees it as the whole Dad thing all over again…

Markus got held up by some sailors toting huge crates. He tried to dodge under, but by the time he'd maneuvered around, I'd already raced across the bridge and skidded to a stop before the library. Where was he? Where? I looked around frantically. There, by the docks! You can't hide from me, Markus!

I was laughing a little as I sped down at him, watching him yelp as he saw me coming. It was a little like hide-and-go-seek tag, from when we were little, when was no Juliet or Trainers or Pokédex or Professor Rowan- especially, there was no creepy Team Galactic.

Even though he'd had a huge head start, I managed to get him. He'd always been stronger, but I was faster. I grabbed his collar, barely snagging it, and yanked him back, half choking him to death in the process.

"Hi, Roland," he said sheepishly.

"Hey, don't 'Hi, Roland' me! You've got to go home! Your mum must be dying back there!" My stern words were sort of undermined by the goofy smile I couldn't keep off my face.

Always optimistic, Markus said brightly, "At least I didn't smack into you this time! See, I don't have to do that every time we meet!"

"Yeah, yeah." We shared a bro hug. I looked at him. His blond hair was now really lanky. Especially since he spiked it up all the time, it looked like a huge frizz over his head. "Man, you need a haircut."

"So do you," he said, and I laughed, pulling my hat further down over my ears. He was right. My hair was getting long!

"So, Roland!" He clapped me on the shoulder. "Going to challenge the Gym Leader up past here, eh?"

"Ohh, no. Don't distract me! I'm taking you h-"

"Well, you'll have to get past me first. Me and my shiny new Mine Badge!" He sprang back, yanking a Pokéball from his belt. Wow, he actually had a certified Pokémon League Pokéball Belt! The handy device let you clip your Pokéballs to your waist, making it- hey, wait! This is no time to be impressed by him!

I groaned. "I'm just gonna beat you again, Markus!"

He grinned. "We'll see!" He threw the Pokéball. "Go, Staravia!"

The huge bird burst from the Pokéball, crowing with pride. I didn't need a Pokédex to tell me that Staravia was the evolved form of Starly, those pesky little birds that attacked us in Twinleaf.

"Two can play at that game," I muttered. I nudged Raven off my shoulder; she fluttered/fell to the ground. "Okay, Raven, use Sucker Punch!" I could tell that Markus was shocked when my maimed little bird darted over to his monstrous avian and whacked it across the beak with a wing, dancing back before Staravia could hit it with Wing Attack. "Now Faint Attack!" Raven charged into Staravia sharply, taking the bigger bird's attack in stride and circling in again for another hit. Sputtering, the Staravia took to the sky to avoid further attacks. "Alright, wait till it comes down again and get it once more!"

"Quick Attack, and don't let that Murkrow get you again!"

The Staravia pulled down in a dive and scratched Raven sharply down the wing with its talons. It wasn't quick enough, though, because Raven slammed into it. Staravia's body fell, and Markus returned it to its Pokéball.

"Alright, that was a good move," Markus admitted. His eyes were sparkling. "But you'll never defeat this next one!"

"Good battle, Raven. Take a rest," I said, extending an arm so she could climb up to my shoulder again. I smiled as she gave my ear an affectionate peck.

"Okay, I'll send out my… Heracross!" Markus threw the ball with as much force as he could muster. Out came what looked like a huge, blue stag beetle.

I wrinkled my nose in distaste. "Ew. Kanto Pokémon! Mandy's gonna squish you like a bug!"

"Technically, Heracross IS a bug type," Juliet reminded me.

I sighed, brushing away my bangs. "Yes, Juliet. I know. That's what makes it a pun."

Her eyes lit up with understanding. "Ohh! Okay, I gotcha."

I plunged my hand into my pocket, curled my hand around a Pokéball, and released Mandy, who smirked at the competition.

"Can you handle it?" I asked, grinning, as cocky as she was.

"You insult me, boy!" She stomped on the ground and yanked out a huge chunk of concrete from the pavement, which she lobbed at the Heracross. It cried out in pain. It Tackled her, but she easily grabbed it by the horn, swung it around, and chucked it into the river. "Two points!"

"Good job!" I praised as Markus returned his bug before it drowned. He was looking at me in surprise and dismay.

He shook his head. "Man, Roland! When did you get so strong?"

"It's called training, Markus; you ought to try it!" I did a little wiggly victory dance.

"Yeah, yeah. For someone who doesn't even like Pokémon Trainers, you sure make a good one! But my next Pokémon will shut you down. Let's go, Ponyta!"

"Child's play!" crowed Mandy. And she was right, of course. She easily defeated it with her type advantage. Furrowing his brow, Markus sent out his second to last Pokémon, a Buizel. I'd seen them before, little annoying water weasels that picnickers seemed to favor. I'd seen its evolved form, too… Floatzel… I felt an unexpected pang in my chest as an image of Crasher Wake's crushed Pokémon floated before my eyes. I shook it away irately. He'd hurt Opal! He deserved for one of his Pokémon to… die…

Well, I'd never let Mandy battle with such a disadvantage. I sent out Natalie in her stead, who let out a raucous war cry. Before I could say a word, she was slicing and dicing Buizel with her X-Scissor, laughing manically as it fell to the ground unconscious.

A little more than freaked out, Markus withdrew the poor thing. "That Kricketune is scary."

"So I've been told." Giving Natalie an amused look, I took her back.

"Only one last Pokémon," Markus said in a sing-song voice. "But you won't defeat this one! Go, Salad!"

Out erupted his MVP, his closer, and it was… still a Turtwig.

"Why hasn't your Turtwig evolved?" I wondered, ogling. It sure looked mature enough to become a Grotle.

"Why hasn't your Piplup evolved?" he snapped back, suddenly all defensive and angry. Then he shook his head. "…Sorry. I don't know why he can't. He just… won't."

"Juliet, either," I said, gaze lingering on Salad. Then I shook my head. "Sorry, mind's wandering. I'll defeat your little pest with my Lopunny!" Opal bounded out.

"Lopunny? L-A-M-E! Salad, start with- WHAT?"

Opal, enraged at Markus's insult, swung around, dropping into a crouch and sweeping the Turtwig off its feet with her Iron Tail. I laughed hysterically.

"A 1-hit-KO!" I was cracking up! Oh- oh- tears were stinging my eyes, this was _priceless!_ "I knocked out your Pokémon in one hit! Oh, this is rich!" I cackled even louder seeing his astonished look.

Markus slowly returned his Turtwig. "Wow, Roland," he said slowly, obviously awed. "That… shouldn't have happened. I've been training nonstop!"

I crumpled slightly. "I can't find anyplace good to train." I looked up, brightening. "Hey, care to give me a few tips…?"

"Aw, really, Roland?" He pouted. "You beat me _and_ you want my private training spot?" He saw my look and gave a bemused, goofy look. "Ehehe. Joking. It's called Iron Island. Go to the docks and find Eldritch and tell him you want to go there. He's a nice sailor, really. Has a wife and a kid. And a very nice boat, if I may say so myself- the _S.S. Casey,_ after his son."

"Which boat?" I asked, looking to the wharf and scanning the names painted on the hulls. There was no answer. I turned slightly. "I said, which-" I gaped. There was Markus, all the way back up at the bridge again. He waved jauntily and ran off.

"MARKUS!" I yelled, shaking my fist.

Juliet snickered, saying under her breath, "Old man."

I grumbled. "Be quiet, you." Kicking a rock over the sea wall and down a long drop into the water, I started trudging up the incline toward the bridge. Juliet hurried after.

"Where ya goin'?"

"Library," I grumbled.

"Hey, it's not your fault Markus got away. …Okay, it was." She snickered. I rolled my eyes.

"Juliet, watch your back. Don't make me put you in your Pokéball."

She feigned terror. "Oh, please, no, anything but my custom made luxury Piplup-specialized Rowan Labs Pokéball."

"Well, okay, if you love it so much-"

She paled considerably as I reached for the Pokéball. "Uh, no thank you, ah, thank you."

I grinned. "Juliet, you're adorable." I crouched, gave her a squeeze, and picked her up, carrying her under my arm like a football as I walked.

Juliet looked happy. She glanced up at Raven on my shoulder. "Haven't been up here in a while- not since you showed up, mute bird."

Raven squawked in her face.

I walked up to the Canalave Library, not paying much attention to the Gym right beside it. I jumped. "Dawn?"

Dawn turned, face lighting up at the sight of me. "Rolaaand!" She wrapped her arms around my neck. I hugged her back, and pulled back to look at her.

"You look good," I remarked.

"You too!" she giggled. She grabbed my scarf, pulling me toward the library door. "Come on, Professor Rowan's waiting inside. He wants to see you."

"Okay?"

We went inside and ran up three flights of stairs. Everything smelled like leather, paper, and glue. Papers rustled. Other than that and footsteps, things were silent in the Canalave Library.

At the third floor, we stopped at the top of the stairs. Professor Rowan was leaning back in a chair, reading a book. He looked up, seeing us. "Hm? Everyone's here." He motioned us over. Dawn and I took a seat opposite him, Juliet on my lap. My hands curled together with Dawn's under the table.

"Read this, Roland," the professor commanded. He handed me the book. I read:

"In the beginning, there was only a churning turmoil of chaos. At the heart of chaos, where all things become one, appeared an Egg. Having tumbled from the vortex, the Egg gave rise to the Original One. From itself, two beings the Original One did make."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Juliet, kind of irked at the strange text.

"Read on, Roland," said the professor. I nodded.

"Time started to spin. Space started to expand. From itself again, three living things the Original One did make. The two beings wished, and from them, matter came to be. The three living things wished, and from them, spirit came to be. The world created, the Original One took to unyielding sleep…"

"Skip to page thirty-two."

I rustled through the pages. "Three Pokémon there were. Into the lakes they dove. Deep, deep, drawing no breath. Deeper, deeper they dove. Into suffocating depths they dove. Deeper, then deepest they alight. From the lake floor they rise. Bearing with them the power to make vast lands, they rise again."

"And now page thirty-nine. Pay special attention to this one."

"Betray not your anger, lest ? will come. Weep not with sorrow, or ? will draw near. When joy and enjoyment come natural as the very air, that is happiness. Let such be blessed by the hand of Master ?." I looked up. "What are the blanks in this, Professor?"

He grunted. "I found that text myself in the ancient ruins of Celestic, inscribed on some stone plates. Their elder did not wish me to take them… of course, that's neither here nor there. Ahem. I took them and translated them myself, but those words were scratched out beyond comprehending. But I have reason to believe that they are legendary Pokémon."

I frowned, trying to follow along.

The professor looked at us rather grimly. "Roland, Dawn, listen up. You may have forgotten already, but I study the evolution of Pokémon." He let out a sigh that made me think he was really longing for a smoke. "But the more I study, the more mysteries appear and multiply. Pokémon that evolve, and those that don't… What makes them different from each other? Do those that are immature as living beings evolve to ones more mature? If so, what do we make of the Pokémon that don't evolve? Are we to assume that legendary Pokémon are complete as creatures? Can the power of the legendaries be used for human purposes?"

That gave me a tingle of discomfort. "That's almost like Galactic thinking, sir."

He glanced at me sharply, saying quickly, "No, no. I was thinking for purely theological reasons. In any case, this is where you two come in. In the three lakes of Sinnoh, there are said to be three mirage Pokémon."

I nodded, leaning back a little and giving Dawn's hand a squeeze. "Yeah, I've heard of them. Mesprit, Azelf…"

"Uxie," Dawn finished. Something flashed in her eyes, but I didn't recognize the emotion. She pulled her hand away.

"Correct. These also happen to be the legendary Pokémon I believe those ancient texts were speaking of. If we can obtain data on them, it may shed some light on how the process of Pokémon evolution works. I need help from both of you on this grand undertaking." Professor Rowan's fingers twitched irritably. "Markus's would be nice too, but he's not very dependable… Hm." He sighed, shaking his head. "Roland. Help me find these Pokémon that are considered to be mirages."

Dawn looked up, but her voice didn't have its usual perk. It was kind of sad. "You can count on me! It will help with my Pokédex, too."

The corners of Rowan's mouth curled up a little. "Hm! I would have made all of you go regardless. Now, there are three lakes. Fortuitously, there are three of us. We should therefore split up and investigate the lakes individually."

"I want Lake Verity," Dawn said, still listless. She picked at her dress. "I'd like to visit your hometown, Roland, and that would work out perfectly since it's near Twinleaf."

"I must go to Lake Acuity," said the professor. "That's almost at Snowpoint City. Only a weathered Trainer would be able to stand the harsh road, therefore I will go, seeing as I am the most mature. And that leaves Roland to..."

"Lake Valor?" I finished, eager to show my knowledge.

"That lake is between Pastoria and Veilstone, if memory serves..." said Professor Rowan. I suddenly noticed his pale fingers begin to grip the table, as if bracing himself for someth-

"AGH!"

We all shouted, cried out, screamed, or, in Juliet's case, BubbleBeamed in panic. The whole building was shaking from side to side. The ground itself was trembling. Bookshelves were overturned; books were thrown across the ground. I grabbed Dawn and pulled her to the ground. I shielded her and Juliet with my body. Clutching the windowsill, Professor Rowan managed to stay upright, but the window cracked. The glass rippled scratches across his wrinkled arm.

Slowly, the shaking stopped. I was holding my breath, listening to Juliet and Dawn breathing beneath me.

Rowan spoke first. "…Has it stopped? Are you unharmed?"

"I'm okay," came Dawn's high, shaky voice from underneath me.

"Good here," I said hoarsely, shuddering, bowels still constricted with fear. I rolled off the girls.

Rowan nodded briskly. "L-let's go outside, but be careful. I'm concerned about the city." He helped Dawn up. I was still lying on my back on the floor, heart juddering at a million miles per hour. He extended a hand to me. Sucking in my breath to try to slow my heartbeat, I took it and let him pull me to my feet. He steadied me. "Are you OK, boy?"

"Y-yes. I th-think so. Just shaken up."

"Let's go, then."

We walked down the stairs rather than ran, our legs still feeling like they were made of jelly. Other library-goers were still cowering, and we found one girl stuck under a bookshelf [Juliet Grass Knotted it off her]. The damage seemed bad. Tons of books were ripped out of the spines, and many bookshelves were splintered. Not one window survived.

"All this lost knowledge…" I murmured sadly.

Juliet was more than a little freaked out. "Sinnoh just had its first earthquake in ever and you're worrying about the _library?_"

"Yeah… sorry… priorities and all. It's just, this is the only library in Sinnoh. It's like a relic."

"Yup, well, you've got a point too."

We exited fearfully out back into Canalave.

The bay gurgled and bubbled as ships slowly sank down to the muddy bottom. Those that had survived had broken masts. Half the Pokémon Center had sunk into the ground. Several houses had collapsed, and the bridge had broken and fallen into the water. The only unaffected building was the Gym. I looked around in horror.

"Why isn't the Gym hurt?" I asked.

"It makes sense. It's a steel Gym, anyway. Literally, its leader uses steel types." Professor Rowan's expression darkened. "But I have no idea what is taking place. You must find out! But before you go, let me stress: Do not get in over your head. We will try to join you as soon as we inspect our respective lakes.

I didn't reply for a moment. I was thinking. _I've already gotten in over my head. Galactic has almost killed me before._ But I said, "Yes, Professor."

"Roland, you'll be OK, won't you?" Dawn looked worried for me.

I looked over to her, swallowing the lump of fear in my throat. "Yeah," I said shortly. "I'll be fine."

-0-

Lake Valor, between Pastoria and Veilstone? I remembered that lake, I thought, but I hadn't been allowed in because of some scientific wildlife protection mumbo-jumbo. Or so I'd been told. 'Cause now I was thinking that it was the work of Team Galactic.

During the journey, I read a book that Professor Rowan had recommended to me before we left the library. It was actually enthralling. The title was _A Horrific Myth._

'Look not into the Pokémon's eyes. In but an instant, you'll have no recollection of who you are. Return home, but how? When there is nothing to remember? Dare not touch the Pokémon's body. In but three short days, all emotions will drain away. Above all, above all, harm not the Pokémon. In a scant five days, the offender will grow immobile in entirety,' I read silently.

It was evening, nearing dusk. I headed through the trees, toward the lake. It was about a five minute walk before I started hearing voices. I furrowed my brow. _Team Galactic… what are you up to here?_

It was true. I didn't know what their aim was. I didn't understand what their motives were. They came out of nowhere, tried to kill me, headed off. Who were Team Galactic, really?

I could hear them already. I returned Raven to her Pokéball and motioned for Juliet to be very silent. We hid behind some trees.

"Hahaha!" someone was cackling. "Next stop, Lake Verity! The closest civilization is that hick town called Twinleaf! We can roll in there completely unopposed!"

First a chill ran up my spine- that was where Dawn was!- then, white-hot anger washed over me. I sprang up. "HEY! Don't bag on Twinleaf!"

The grunts' heads snapped to me. They smirked. Then they stared. Then they shrieked. Then they sadly returned the Pokémon that Juliet had devastated to their Pokéballs.

I smirked. "Now, boys, what were you saying about Twinleaf?"

I relished their expressions. They hung their heads. "Sorry, sir," they mumbled, trudging off.

Juliet froze. "H-hey, Roland."

"Yeah?"

"Take a look at our surroundings."

Stopping to look around, dismay flooded me.

"Where's Lake Valor?" she squeaked.

I stared. "Juliet… we're standing in Lake Valor."

There was nothing left, just a huge, scorched crater. Pools of water were swirling in the cracks, poor Magikarp flopping around and slowly dying.

"No…" I breathed, moving in.

A grunt shrugged. "Magikarp are worthless. Even Team Galactic has no use for them!" She kicked one. I clenched my fists and stalked toward the center of the crater. A cave stood there, little more than a hole in the ground, really.

Another Galactic grunt tried to block me. Dust was thrown up, turning the scene eerie as Mandy swept him away and defeated him. For good measure, she smacked him, throwing him to the ground.

Nose trickling blood, the grunt snarled. "So, you're tough. Big deal. What do you think you can accomplish? There's one of you up against the entire Team Galactic. By now, another crew should be on their way to Lake Verity near that puny little Twinleaf Town! Come on. We're Team Galactic! The number one crime syndicate in the world! To defy us is to defy the universe! It's too late to make any difference. Things are going to get really interesting now. All the legendary Pokémon are going to be brought to our HQ in Veilstone!"

I stormed over to where the grunt lay, grabbing him by the shirt and lifting him off the ground. "Tell me what happened here, please," I said. My tone of voice was not at all imploring.

He managed a sneer. The kind that said, 'You've beaten me now, but I pity what'll happen to you in the future.' "We had to get to the middle of the lake. So we just blew it all up with a Galactic bomb!"

I let out a long breath, letting him back down and walking towards the hole.

There was a man standing above the hole with his hands on his hips. He wore the Team Galactic livery, but he made it look good. He was skinny, but had muscular shoulders. His hair was blue. Not blue black like my hair, but pale, sky blue. It was curly. He was good looking, the kind of person who the girls swoon over on soap operas.

I walked up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"The mission is proceeding without a hitch," he said without looking at me. "The boss should be pleased. Everything is for everyone, and for the good of Team Galactic." He turned to me. "I recognize your face. You're the child who raided the Team Galactic building in Eterna. Humph! Jupiter should be ashamed of herself, being beaten by a child. But anything and anyone that opposes Team Galactic must be crushed! Even the very thought of opposition will not be tolerated."

I smiled humorlessly. "Who are you?"

"The name's Saturn, friend. And you're Roland."

"Well, let's get this battle on the road, eh?" I reached into my pocket. Saturn touched my elbow, stopping me with a smile of his own. His was cruel.

"Aha, no, I'm not going to fight you. Do you think I'm mad? Of course, I'd lose." He used a sing-song tone of voice: "'…You, my friend, are tough! …I can see how you defy us so. Gah! Even I, a Commander, only managed to buy us time?' But that's fine. A child like you would never be able to stem the flow of time."

A light bulb flashed in my head. "You're stalling me."

"Yes. By now, Mars will be well underway in the retrieval of the Lake Pokémon from Verity."

"Thanks for the heads-up! I'll be there just in time to save the day!"

Saturn grabbed my elbow again before I could run off. "Sorry, but I can't let you do that, friend. There are other ways of stalling than to battle you."

A shiver ran up my body suddenly. His eyes were like ice. They were freaky. Emotionless. Like some creepy puppet. I tried to pull away, but his grip was like iron. He grabbed my other arm, and twisted both behind my back.

"All I need you to do is look down into that hole. Am I going to have to force you, or are you going to do it peacefully?"

"Let go!" Head buzzing with adrenaline, I thrashed frantically.

Saturn sighed. "Sorry to do this, friend." He forced my neck down, and before I could stop myself, I took a fleeting glance down in the deep, dark hole. It was black in there. All I could see was two yellow eyes.

Immediately I felt a pull on my spirit, as if my soul was spiraling down, sucked into those bright eyes. And suddenly, my mind collapsed. A billion memories swirled around, and I became disoriented. Where was I? Who was I?

I felt a shove on my back. Saturn pushed me in. I took a tumble to the bottom of the shaft and lay still as everything turned black.

-0-

I began my new existence in a black hole, surrounded by coldness and muggy air.

My first impression was that of pain. My face was pressed up against the stone ground as I lay there. I pulled myself up into sitting position on creaky limbs, hugging my knees to my chest. That's when I realized that my hand was clutching something. I forced my fingers to uncurl, feeling like a stranger in my own body, and stared at the scrap of paper, waiting for my eyes to adjust.

When they finally did, I read the scrawled note. _Thank you for your assistance in apprehending Uxie, the lake Pokémon! Your friend, Saturn_

I wanted to cry, but no tears would come. I had an oily taste in my mouth. I was at the bottom of a hole somewhere, alone.

_Who am I?_

I… I could remember nothing of my life.

How could this be possible? My mind was functioning flawlessly, calculating my surroundings. I could imagine dew dripping down the leaves, Magikarp dangling on the end of fishing poles, Starly perched on trees, a bay full of ships. I could add thirty-seven and fourteen- fifty-one- and knew that Kanto was adjacent to Sinnoh. Knowledge, facts and images, details of the world and how it works, was an open book before me.

But I didn't know where I came from. I didn't know how I'd gotten here, or who my parents were. I didn't even know my name.

I crawled back until I found the wall, sliding my back up it and standing. I paced the perimeters of the room. It was only a few square feet wide. Violent claustrophobia flooded over me. I threw my body up against the walls, slamming my shoulders into the rock.

"Someone… help… me!" I screamed, throat raw, pounding my fists on any available surface. There was no hidden catch or stairway or passage. The only entrance and exit was the mouth of the hole, a good four feet out of reach.

I slowly sank down into a crouch, trying to ignore the lump in my throat. For the millionth time, I searched my memory, rifling through them desperately. Nothing. Blankness. I buried my face in my hands, resisting the urge to scream again.

That's when I noticed the pain in my thighs. Something was digging into them. It took me a moment to figure it out. I plunged my hands into my pockets and ended up with handfuls of Pokéballs. I stared at the red and white capsules for a moment before hesitantly pressing the button of one.

The red flash of light briefly illuminated the hole. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust once more, but when they did, I saw some creepy… bug thing before me. It had sword-like arms and weird feeler things. Its eyes were red, disturbing.

I shouted in alarm, scrambling back. I reached for the Pokéball it had come from, but which was it? There were so many!

"Roland~?" asked the bug hesitantly. It sounded female.

_Roland?_ Was that my name? "St-stay back!"

"Uh, Roland, you're acting funny~. Where are we~?"

"'Roland?'" I sized her/it/whatevertheheck up. She didn't seem to be hostile, or moving at me. "Are you talking me?"

"Uh, _yes_~," said the bug, sounding disconcerted. "Is this a joke~?"

"No! Who are you?"

Now the bug was starting to panic a little bit. "What the heck happened, Roland? This isn't funny!"

"I'm not trying to be!" I yelled. In my attempt to back up, I kicked a Pokéball, unwittingly releasing the beast inside.

Another flash of red light, and this time a little bird Pokémon appeared. I couldn't help but smile. It was adorable! Silver and blue all over, it remarkably resembled a penguin. She was gasping all over, as if being in the Pokéball had pained her.

"Juliet!" yelled the bug.

"What's wrong, Natalie?" asked the penguin.

"It's Roland~!" said the bug, Natalie, terrified. "He doesn't recognize me~!"

"What? No," said the penguin. She turned to me. "You know Natalie, right, Roland?"

"I- no, sorry, I don't," I said, flustered. The penguin's jaw dropped.

"Come on," the penguin insisted. "Take a good look!"

I did, desperately scouring the bug's face, alert for any flicker of recognition. Nothing happened.

I shook my head. "Sorry, nothing."

Natalie was going around to the other Pokéballs, clicking each of them. Out came an ugly black bird, a mass of rock with arms and a barrette, and a tall, curvy rabbit. I waved.

"Hey, nice to meet you," I began. The penguin cut me off.

"No, no, no! Roland, we're your Pokémon, you caught us and raised us-" the penguin's voice broke a little. "Do you know me? Do you know me, at least? Juliet?"

I looked her over, very carefully. Obviously, she was very concerned about this.

"No," I finally answered. I looked around at them all. "Not any of you. I've never seen any of you guys before in my life. Sorry."


	11. Kidnapped!

The five Pokémon, penguin, bug, rock, rabbit, and bird, were in hysterics, all shouting at once.

The penguin fell on her butt, wing clutched over her chest, breathing heavily. "I- can't- be- in- here-"

I pointed to the penguin. "What's wrong with her?"

The other Pokémon shot me almost hostile looks. "She's got _claustrophobia,_ that's what she doesn't stay in her Arceus-danged Pokéball!" yelled the rabbit Pokémon.

I was appalled. "Watch your language!" You would think that an elegant Lopunny would be more polite, am I right?

"We've got to get her out of here," the mass of rock said grimly, grabbing the penguin and hauling her up. "Here, Opal, get on my shoulders and lift her out. You're the tallest, and I can take your weight."

The rabbit- Opal- glanced at me one last time, ears flattened down. I realized that her outburst had been out of concern and fear. Well, that was actually kind of sweet. "O-okay." She accepted the penguin into her arms and clambered onto the rock's back.

"You really don't remember us~?" asked the bug, turning to me, frontal arms crossed anxiously. "Really~?"

"Honest," I said. Fear was draining from me; slowly being replaced by a strong sense of curiosity. Who were these Pokémon? Was I a Trainer? Well, I guess that was a dumb question. There were Pokéballs in my pocket. What was my story?

The bug's expression was torn between anxiety and admiration. "That is _so _cool."

Everyone shot her looks.

"_And_ horrible," she placated, turning back to me. "Well, I'm Natalie~. Natalie, your third Pokémon~. There's Mandy, Opal, the Murkrow is Raven, and Juliet-" Her voice broke a little. "Juliet's your first Pokémon~."

"Nice to meet y-"

"No! Just shut up! You're not meeting us, you _know _us! We're yours! We've traveled together for months!" Mandy turned her back to me, staring at the ground and taking sharp, steadying breaths.

Fluttering onto Mandy's back, Raven gave her a soothing peck.

Opal was clambering out of the hole, Juliet in her arms. The walls made it hard to see upward; shadows were cast hilter-skilter. The last piece of Opal, a foot, disappeared over the top, and she was gone. I assumed she and Juliet were looking down at us, but it was like they were invisible. Despite craning my neck, I couldn't see. I giving up, I looked back to Natalie. "What's going on? Why're we in a hole?"

"Long story," said Juliet's voice from somewhere up above us. She seemed to have recovered somewhat. Her shaky voice had stabilized. "We'll figure out what happened to you." Of course, panic _was_tremoring just beneath the surface.

"Uh, I think I already have," Mandy remarked, leaning down and picking up a book. It had a plastic cover on it, like from a library.

She handed it to me; I turned it over in my hands. "_A Horrific Myth._" I read the title out loud. Remorse twanged through me. Nope. No recognition at all. Not the slightest glimmer.

"That must have tumbled out of your pocket while you fell in," realized Opal. I was slightly puzzled, so she reiterated. "It's from the Canalave Library."

"Canalave Library?" I imagined walls and walls of books, and a ghost of a smile graced my lips. "I'd like to visit there, I think."

"You already _have,_" grumbled Mandy. She rubbed her eyes with a rocky fist. My face was reflected in her barrette. I was grubby, with dark, bluish hair and a red newsboy hat. I seemed young. This was the person that all these Pokémon were worried about. _I must be a good Trainer,_ I thought.

Natalie took the book from me [I winced inwardly, praying to Arceus that her swordlike hands wouldn't hurt it]. "You know, this situation has potential for a lot of hilarity~." Again, everyone glared. She held her arms up in a placating gesture, eyes darkening. "Hey, don't misunderstand me here~. I love you, Roland; we all do, and none of us will rest until you're back to normal~!"

For some reason, tears burned the corners of my eyes. I smiled a watery smile. "I'm lucky to have friends like you… Even if I can't even remember how we met."

"We'll educate you," Juliet assured. I could imagine her looking around. "We've got to get you guys out of there. Roland, get on Mandy's back and Opal can pull you up. Then you can return everyone else to their Pokéballs from up here."

Giving a nod, I moved forward and allowed Mandy to heft me onto her shoulders. Opal reached down to me, and I stretched to reach her. My fingertips kept just skimming hers. I grit my teeth in frustration. _Does something as simple as this have to be_ so _difficult?_ It just wasn't going to work, I could see that. We wouldn't be able to grasp each other. Taking a breath and preparing myself for harm, I jumped, and she managed to grab my wrist. Unable to stop myself, momentum swung me forward and hit my chin on the wall of the hole. "_Ouch!_" I accidentally kicked Mandy's face. She yelped and stepped back instinctively. Perfect, now I was dangling. Sense the sarcasm.

Grunting, I swung my other arm up, and Opal took it in her free hand. I braced my legs up against the side of the hole, pushing myself up as she pulled. Free at last, I rubbed my chin, clambering to my feet. The hole was deep and dark; I could barely see anything. Mandy blended right in. Raven's dark plumage just made her another shadow- if I didn't know she was there, I'd have never even seen her. As for Natalie, I couldn't even make her out.

Slight relief washed over me. "It's a good thing I let you guys out. Nobody would've found me at the bottom of that thing."

"Yeah, yeah, very fortunate," Opal said. "Can you get the others up?"

"Sure thing," I said, fumbling for the Pokéballs. Their metallic curve felt unnatural in the palm of my hand. I handled them gingerly, as if they were bombs rather than standard Trainer tools.

Meanwhile, Juliet and Opal both were ogling.

I paused, trying to work it out in my head. Then, after a moment: "OK… I give up. What did I do wrong this time?"

"Since when do you take orders from Opal?" Juliet wondered, shocked.

"Yeah! Since when do you take orders from me?" Opal repeated, shaking her head.

"Uhh… do I not do that?"

"No, Roland, you don't do that!" Juliet was fretting. "She bosses you around, you smirk, the two of you engage in some playful banter… but you don't _ever_take her advice, even though it's wiser than what you usually do!"

"Wow," I remarked. "I sound like an idiot. Am I?"

Juliet had to smile a little on that one, breaking her shell of nerves. "Mm… let's go with naïve, m'kay?"

I clicked the Pokéball buttons and jumped a little when the capsules opened. Raven, Mandy, and Natalie- so strange to think of them as _my_ Pokémon; I didn't even remember catching or training them- transformed into balls of bright red light and were sucked into the Pokéballs. I turned and let them out on solid ground again. The job done, I looked around, evaluating my surroundings. "Where _are_ we?" I asked. I didn't recognize any of my surroundings, although I could picture a million other places in Sinnoh. I guess I'd once seen them in photographs. My mind functioned perfectly. How did one just lose his memory?

While Juliet tried to sputter an answer, Mandy stepped in. "This is Lake Valor, Roland."

"What?" I was taken horribly aback. I could picture Lake Valor in my mind: an expanse of rippling, glimmering water, teeming with Magikarp, Seaking, Gyarados, Golduck, and more. "How?"

"Team Galactic," they said grimly all at once.

"Ring a bell~?" Natalie added.

I didn't even bother trying to sift through my mind this time. Slightly depressed, I answered, "No, it doesn't."

"They're a criminal society who all seem to know you," Juliet answered.

"They tried to blow you up," Mandy said.

"Twice," put in Opal.

Well. It's not like that was a disturbing thought or anything. _It looks like I have some enemies in very high places._ "Are they very dangerous," I asked, "this Team Galactic?"

They shuffled a little. "Well, they haven't killed any of us," Juliet said. "They beat you up once and left you lying in the Floaroma Meadow. And like Mandy said, they tried to blow us up twice. We've met the leader of Team Galactic on several occasions, and he in particular always seems to tick you off an inexplicable amount. I've suspected that you were keeping something from us…" She looked down sadly. "…Of course, it may be too late to find out now. Here, yesterday, a Team Galactic Commander calling himself Saturn did… did _something_ to you and threw you down this hole. And-" Her eyes widened suddenly. "_Dawn!_" She spun to the others. "Guys, Dawn is at Lake Verity! That's where Saturn said that Galactic was going next!"

"Hold your Ponytas!" I yelled. "Who is Dawn?"

"She's your little girlfriend, the assistant of Professor Rowan- that's right, you don't know who Rowan is… well, long story short, he's, like, your role model, and he's promised you a job in his labs; he's also the one who gave me to you." Juliet flapped her wings frantically. "When we were in Canalave, you, Rowan, and Dawn agreed to split up to go to the three lakes! You had Valor, the professor had Acuity, Dawn had Verity. And judging by the way Galactic has shoved Dawn around previously, she's not going to stand much of a chance up against them this time either- especially not when you, a first-class Trainer, has failed to protect a lake! I have a feeling she won't do any better!"

"Girlfriend?" I smirked. My face turned darkly playful. "Alright, well, I can't let my girlfriend be in trouble, now can I? Let's go to Lake Verity and save her!" I spun to the Murkrow. "Alright, ah, Raven, was it? Let's Fly to Verity!"

Raven gave me a very dry look.

Mandy punched me in the arm. "She can't Fly, you idiot. Look at her wing."

I gaped. "So I take public transport everywhere?"

"Yes. Now get your skinny white butt to the nearest Pokémon Center and hitch the first Staraptor to Twinleaf Town!"

"Coincidentally, that's your hometown," Juliet put in. "Yours and Markus's. Your rival, I mean."

My home. Judging by my reflection in Mandy's barrette and it puddles around us, I was around twelve years old- that felt right, too. I felt young. So I had over a decade of history in Twinleaf Town. Games, tears, laughter, smiles, injuries, boredom, anger, love. Over a decade of memories stolen from me. _Now_ I was angry.

"Alright, then," I said. "It's time for a little homecoming!"

-0-

I rapidly counted out the right amount of Poké - Sinnoh's currency- and shoved the bills into the Staraptor's waiting claw. I gave the huge bird a quick stroke on the head, waved goodbye, and grabbed Juliet up in my arms.

"Raven usually rides on your shoulder," she informed me. "Raven or me."

"Yeah, well, can't tradition wait until later? Now, how far until I get to Lake Verity? Uh, that's where you said we met, right?"

"Right. It's not too far now."

It had been decided priorly to skirt around Twinleaf Town itself. It would raise too many questions if people who I knew spotted me. My heart twisted a little. I wanted to meet my mother. Maybe she could help me figure things out… Silly, I know, as she apparently had nothing to do with Team Galactic or my Pokémon journey, but mothers always seemed to be knowledgeable.

In the trees ahead, I could hear the sound of fighting.

"Pokémon out, Roland," Juliet said. I released the gang. I gave them a moment to orient themselves before realizing they didn't need it; apparently they were used to frequently going in and out of Pokéballs.

We zoomed around the curving path out onto the lakefront.

There, I saw a yellow-haired kid with a green scarf and an orange-and-white striped shirt fending off almost ten Trainers at once. His opponents all wore the same astronaut uniforms. Far off on the shore of the lake, two solitary figures were battling. The smaller of the two seemed to be losing.

"Galactic?" I asked Juliet.

"Galactic," Juliet confirmed.

"Time to bust up the party!" Mandy declared triumphantly, cracking her knuckles and charging forward. The Galactic goons yelped and broke rank. No shame there- I would, too, if a two hundred pound mass of angry female rock was coming at them with intent to harm.

The blond kid spun around and saw me. "Roland! I'm glad you're here, bro!"

I glanced around. "Uhh, do I know-?"

"That's Markus," Juliet hissed.

"Oh." I waved. "Hi, uh, Markus! Why are you here"

"Perfect timing, man! Dawn needed help, so I showed up to give her some assistance. Team Galactic is after the legendary Pokémon! You've gotta help Dawn! " He winced as his Buizel took a hard hit from a Dustox. "Ach! How dare you! You thugs! Roland, Dawn needs your help!" To his Pokémon, he yelled, "Retreat, guys. I've got to heal you!" Markus's Pokémon ran back to him as he pulled out healing medicines. He glanced back at me. "What are you waiting for?"

"R-right!"

Juliet looked up at me as the rest of the girls ran into the fray. "Let us handle all the battling, Roland," she suggested gently. "You… you don't know any of our abilities or moves or limitations or anything, currently. You sit back and watch."

"Right…" I watched her run out with the others. I was just a burdening, superfluous amnesiac. My hands turned to fists, fingernails digging into my palms. I relaxed a little when I saw the five of them destroying Galactic grunts like there was no tomorrow. I had trained these Pokémon myself. I was proud that they weren't helpless without me.

"Alright, my Pokémon are good to go," Markus said, clapping me on the shoulder. "Go to Dawn. I'll handle the grunts!"

"Gotcha," I said with a determined nod. "Come on, girls!"

The Pokémon glanced back at me. They finished off the 'mons they'd been fighting and flocked to me. I motioned for them to follow and ran as fast as I could down the shore, kicking up wet sand with every step. I afforded a short glance at the fancy Pokétch strapped to my wrist. It was still only seven AM.

A few grunts jumped in my way, saying things like, "It's our mission to stall you. Sorry, but we gotta do our job." Opal easily swatted them away, and we circled around the lake to where Dawn was fighting. I glanced out at the water.

The cave in this lake wasn't underwater. It jutted straight out of the surface like an island. And there was a Team Galactic boat docked right outside. That couldn't be good. I shook my head. No time for that; my so-called girlfriend was in trouble!

Dawn was putting up an admirable fight, but she was down to her last Pokémon, the Chimchar she had begun with. The fiery monkey was powerful, but the Galactic she was up against was attacking with all three Pokémon at once.

In desperation, Dawn glanced back at me. "Roland! It's T-Team Galactic! They want the lake Pokémon!" No flipping duh!

Grunts burst out of the island at Lake Verity's center, waving a Pokéball and shouting, "Commander Mars! We have the Pokémon!"

Dawn's opponent was a girlish woman. Her hair, a ruby red color, slicked with a greasy substance and flipped upward in the back, shone in the sun. She was garbed in a tutu-like variation of the usual Galactic uniform. Ignoring the freaky hairstyle and outfit, she would have been pretty, other than the gruesome smirk disfiguring her face.

Dawn's expression fell at the triumphant grunts. "Oh no! The Pokémon of the lake…"

Galactic woman turned, eyes settling on me, gleeful smile slowly turning into a bitter sneer. "That face…!" she said. "It brings back bad memories!"

"Excuse me?" I said.

"I'm talking about the windworks!" she yelled. The shade of red that the woman's face was turning matched her hair perfectly; a vein throbbed in her forehead with rage. "I caught a whole lot of trouble for that little incident!"

Ah. Another person I _should_ have known but _didn't._ I grimaced.

"What's with the look on your face?" she demanded, stomping a foot and crossing her arms. "You do remember me, don't you? Fine, whatever. I'll tell you who I am again! I'm Mars, one of Team Galactic's Commanders." Dawn was gripping my arm. Mars looked at both of us and smiled. "So, what is it? Are you some lovey-dovey couple to the rescue? Not a chance! Not even a teeny one! You're all going down!"

"Not on my life!" I retorted. "Get her, Pokémon!"

"Go, my Pokémon!"

Her Pokémon and mine clashed. The battle was short and intense. Mandy used the move Earthquake to the point of spamming; Juliet made use of all the water and fought with Surf; Natalie's Hyper Beam proved deadly. It only took the three of them to knock out all Mars's Pokémon, which had been weakened tremendously already by Dawn. I glanced at the girl. She was still holding my arm, enraptured by the battle my Pokémon were waging. She had looked like a weakling at first glance, but I revised my perception of her. She must be stronger than she seemed.

My Pokémon jumped back to my side once Mars was defeated. The Galactic Commander's expression was utterly shocked. Stunned. She couldn't believe that I had beaten her- and, from what I'd gleaned from her rant, it wasn't the first time I'd done it.

She snarled. "Again and again…! I lost again… So, first the windworks, and now Lake Verity that I owe you for! This shouldn't be happening to Team Galactic's Commander…" She sucked in her breath, running her hand over her hair. She began muttering to herself. "…Calm down, Mars… I've done my part in all of this… My mission was to transport the lake's Pokémon to our HQ…" She brightened considerably. "That's right! I accomplished my mission without a problem!" She looked past Dawn and me to the Galactic goons. "Team!" she barked. "We're pulling out! The boss is waiting at the HQ!"

Her attention back on me, victory was now plastered over her face. "Roland, a word of advice. The Pokémon of the three lakes are connected somehow. Thanks to Saturn's grandstanding at Lake Valor, a cavern appeared there. The Galactic Bomb we set off triggered earthquakes all over the region! But, it did succeed in draining the lake."

Well. If Juliet was to believed, that made the _third_ time that Galactic had tried to blow me/us/the general populace up.

"The cavern was the one where the Pokémon Uxie slept. Mesprit appeared, too, probably to go help its friends," Mars continued. "That worked out well for us. It was super easy to catch. So now we've got them all: Mesprit, 'the Being of Emotion,' Azelf, 'the Being of Willpower,' and Uxie, 'the Being of Intelligence.' Now that we have them all…" She smirked. "There's nothing you can do to stop us anymore!" She laughed maniacally. Calming, her voice took on a more conversational tone. "So, Roland," she said, "you truly don't remember me?"

"Sorry to disappoint," I managed. This chick was off the deep end!

"Well, wow. That means that lazy bum Saturn actually succeeded! Anyway, I'm rambling now." Again, she looked past us to where the Galactic grunts and Markus stood. I was beginning to hear a slight 'chop, chop, chop' sound, and the wind was picking up. I held my hat down. "Grunts, grab the boy!" I braced myself, but she wasn't talking about me.

As Markus shouted in alarm, the grunts went for him. He didn't stand a chance. The ten of them against him… they easily held rendered him helpless. His Pokémon wavered, afraid that he would be hurt before they could rescue him if they made a move. A grunt hissed something in Markus's ear, presumably a threat, and Markus gulped, returning his team to their Pokéballs.

Now the noise was deafening, and the wind vicious.

"Sayonara, Roland!" Mars shouted above the racket as a helicopter descended. The driver threw a rope ladder down to the grunts. "Now that we have both the Lake Trio _and _your little friend, you can look forward to what plans Team Galactic has for them!"

Even as I shouted, "No!", Mars shoved Dawn and me to the ground and _ran_. That girl could peg it! The grunts were pulling a struggling Markus up the ladder to the chopper. I stumbled to my feet, already moving before I was fully up, and sprinted after them, but I wasn't fast enough. I tripped, fell, and watched as the helicopter flew away. The grunts and Markus were already inside and out of sight, but Mars was hanging onto the bottom of the ladder, waving. From behind me, Mandy chucked a rock, but it was too far of a distance. The boulder plunked harmlessly into the lake and sunk to the depths. The noise faded away. The air stilled.

"You okay?" Dawn asked, coming up from behind me and placing a hand on my shoulder. I was anxious and confused. I was worried for the guy's safety, but since I didn't remember him as my best friend- just as an innocent bystander- I wasn't afraid like I probably would have been had I had my memories. But I knew that something _very_bad was happening. It was never good when a mafia group won.

But man, had my Pokémon rocked!

The euphoria was overcome by my upset emotions. I let out a long sigh. "…Crud…" I breathed out and flopped in the sand on my back, folding my hands over my eyes.

"It's alright, Roland," Dawn assured, crouching beside me. "Hey. Listen to me, you lump." She poked me in the cheek repeatedly until I looked over at her. "Is it true? Did Commander Saturn succeed in wiping your memories?"

Again with the memory thing! "Yeah," I said. "How did he _do_ that, by the way?" I slammed my fist on the ground, shaking my head. Dawn helped me into the sitting position.

"Do you know much about the legendary Pokémon Uxie that was in Lake Valor?"

"No…" I couldn't recall anything. It wasn't just the whole memory-wipe shindig, I genuinely hadn't heard much about Uxie, simply knowing of her existence.

"Well, forget I said anything, then," Dawn said, standing and extending a hand. I sighed, taking it and letting her pull me to my feet. "Let's go to Sandgem Town- that's where Professor Rowan's lab is; do you remember him? Oh, Juliet explained who he was? Good. We can use the PC there to contact him with video chat. We ought to talk to him and tell him all about what happened."

"Alright." I shook my head angrily. "Ugh, Team Galactic! I don't remember much, but from what I've heard and what I've seen, what horrible people they are! Kidnapping kids! Stealing _legendary Pokémon! _There are some things you don't mess with, y'know?"

Dawn inspected me, face unusually dark. Her stance suddenly seemed a lot more masculine than I'd expect from a girl in a miniskirt. Folding her arms, she sighed, "Ever considered that Team Galactic may not be as bad as you're making them out to be- that they have motives you don't know of?"

"They imprisoned the father of a little girl! They threatened to blow up a peaceful town! They beat Roland to a pulp!" Juliet exclaimed as she and the others had caught up; she was glaring daggers. "I think we know exactly what we need to assume that they're evil, thank you very much!"

"Hush, Juliet," I said, returning the other four to their Pokéballs. Juliet grumbled. I picked her up and looked back at Dawn. "So, Sandgem Town?"

-0-

Professor Rowan was wearing thick gloves, a scarf, and a cozy hat with one of those cotton knobs at the end. His face was blocky, lined, and stern. His eyebrows, hair, and stubbly beard were a silvery gray.

"I see…" he mused. "This also occurred at Lake Valor… Another legendary Pokémon was taken away by Team Galactic… And the three of you went up against full-fledged criminals. The fact that you're unharmed is reason enough to celebrate. I'm at the Snowpoint City Pokémon Center, using their PC. It's cold up here! Well, Team Galactic is blocking Lake Acuity off, so I can't get in. I'll try to sneak in at an opportune moment, though from what you've said, Lake Acuity's Pokémon has already been apprehended. I cannot help but notice that one of you is not present. Is Markus safe?"

"Team Galactic kidnapped him, sir," Dawn reported.

The professor looked flatly unsurprised. "Markus kidnapped and Roland's memory gone." He looked straight at me. "Boy, you ought to come up to Snowpoint and see me."

"Y-you think?" I stammered.

It was noon now. The lab was very… clean. Not at all what I'd expect from a famous laboratory. In fact, it was _very_ empty. No Bunsen's burners. No fancy vials with the toxic symbol imprinted on them. No flashy gadgets or doo-dads. Only a two bookshelves and a refrigerator.

"Yes, Roland," Professor Rowan said, "I do think. There are many rare Pokémon up here, so you could catch an additional team member while you are at it."

"Uh, um, right! I mean, yes, sir."

He inspected me. "Roland Legend says that Uxie can wipe away memories."

My stomach jumped, making me feel the strange combination of nauseous and hopeful. "Really?" Could Uxie have stolen my memories? I _had_ recently been at the same lake where Uxie was said to have lived.

"Sir!" Dawn looked flustered. "I thought we weren't going to tell… ah… um…" She bit her lip, looking over at me. "N-never mind…"

"Do you still have _A Horrific Myth?_" asked the professor. I nodded. "Excellent, give it a good read. And Roland? Mind your Pokémon on the road to Snowpoint City. It's treacherous, snowy, it blizzards constantly, it's often below freezing, and dangerous Pokémon and Trainers show up at every turn. It's easy to lose a teammate there. Careful."

The PC screen blipped. _Professor Rowan has logged off,_ it reported. I reached out and shut off our own video camera.


	12. Body Count One

"Look not into the Pokémon's eyes. In but an instant, you'll have no recollection of who you are. Return home, but how? When there is nothing to remember? Dare not touch the Pokémon's body. In but three short days, all emotions will drain away. Above all, above all, harm not the Pokémon. In a scant five days, the offender will grow immobile in entirety…"

The cave was dark, and ice cold. It easily penetrated my clothing and leeched the warmth from my body. Beside me walked Natalie, Mandy, and Opal. On my shoulder, Raven; in my arms, Juliet. The only ones who were anywhere near comfortable were Mandy and Opal. Mandy loved any sort of caves. And, of course, Opal's thick fur kept her toasty even with the frigid surroundings.

It was pitch black. I stared moodily out through the cloudy darkness, listening to our footsteps. This darkness- I hated it. And it wasn't like it would go away after we left the cave. It would always be there- in my mind, in my head, permeating me.

Me, myself, I. The words held no meaning. I wanted to scream! Who am I? Who was I? Will I ever be that again?

We used a cave Route to head toward the freezing passes that would wind up to Snowpoint City, for that was where the professor was waiting. In the meantime, we discussed aloud the passage I had memorized from _A Horrific Myth._

"The last thing I really remember is two burning red eyes," I said into the cold fog as we edged through the cave. I tried not to stumble over any more stalagmites. I'd run into several already, and believe me, it _hurt._

"So you definitely looked into Uxie's eyes," said Juliet with an worried twitter.

"Yeah, bummer," said Opal. "You can't see, but I'm nodding sympathetically, Roland."

"Thank you oh so much." I gave a sigh. "What am I going to do…"

"What about the rest?" asked Mandy, startling me. She was usually the calm, silent type, you know?

"What?" I asked, alarmed.

"The rest of the story. About touching and harming Uxie." A pause. "Is nobody else concerned about this? I'm looking around in surprise, guys."

With a soft groan, I touched my forehead, hearing Raven give a low squawk by my ear. "I'm touching my forehead, by the way. Do you mean you think that I'm in danger of, um, having my emotions and sentience drained away?"

"I'm shrugging," said Mandy. "I mean, nobody knows _exactly _what happened that night. You may have touched Uxie. And, I don't know, maybe caught it in the head with your foot on the way down. What I'm saying is that we should assume for the worst, you know?"

"Assuming that…~" I could almost see Natalie frowning. "It's already been a day since then~. Assuming that, Roland would only have four days before time was up- and only two before emotion drained away~!"

I grit my teeth in frustration. "Ugh."

"Ugh," agreed Opal.

Raven squawked.

Then, Juliet shouted brightly, "Is that the end?"

"Yeah, the fog is thinning~!"

"Alright, let's go!" We ran, which actually freaked me out because I could trip over any and everything. But between falling on my face or staying in that dreadful cave one moment longer… yeah, no comparison.

As we broke out into the open, I thought I'd gone blind.

But it was a white kind of blind, unlike in the cave, where everything was black. Out here, the snow blew like crazy. I could still feel the grass crunch beneath my feet, but it was still ankle deep in ice and snow, soft and feathery. I shivered, goose bumps crawling up my skin. I had never seen anything so beautiful, and so deadly. On either side of us rose huge, sheer cliffs- the passes I had heard of. I could only imagine an avalanche sliding down them…

While Natalie, Juliet, and Mandy all shivered and snuggled in closer to me, Opal gave a shout of wonder and hopped off into the white.

I couldn't help but grin when I looked around. The small green and brown figures all around us that, at first, I had at first perceived as trees, I now realized were Pokémon. I fumbled in my jacket and managed to pull out my Pokédex, the shape of which was still strange and unfamiliar in my hands.

"Zzt- Snover," the Pokédex reported. "It lives zzt on zzt snowy mountains. Having had little zzt contact with humans zzt, it is zzt boldly inquisitive."

I frowned at it, gave it a little shake. Was something wrong with it? Was the snow making it act up?

"What's wrong?" asked Juliet, looking up at me.

I shook my head quickly. "Eh, nothing really, but- is the Pokédex always so staticky? Is it broken or something?"

Juliet paused, then raised and lowered her little shoulders. "I thought it was strange too, when I first heard it. I'd seen Pokédexes before, you know? And this one is different. But you got it from the professor, and of course, anything from him just had to be _saintlike._"

I watched Opal bouncing around from drift to drift, flailing in the snow and laughing manically. Then I felt Raven fluffing her wings on my shoulder and glanced at her. Her dark, deep eye was staring out so mournfully at the swirling snow. Flecks were landing all over her, bright against her ebony feathers. The cold air hurt my lungs, but I knew that it would make perfect flying conditions. However, with her wing, it would be impossible for her. I pitied her. The longing came off her in waves. I'd never really thought about what it would be like for a bird not being able to fly. Poor Raven.

I jolted out of my reverie. Opal was getting far ahead. "Well, come on, guys. Let's go!" I tugged on some mittens. "There should be a rest house at the end of this first pass. Warm hot chocolate… a fireplace… a sleeping bag and a view down the mountain, all curled up and warm from the inside out in a cozy log cabin…"

"Well, tell me what we're waiting for!" Mandy laughed and started to wade through the snow. Graveller were short and heavy, two bad combinations for the weather; she sunk right in and had to waddle. And then-

Plunk! She dropped completely out of sight.

I gasped in surprise. Natalie began to crack up. "Oh, Arceus, this is priceless~! She fell right into a hole~. Alright, Roland, go ahead and return her to her Poké Ball~. I can tease her more about this later~!"

With a slight grin, I fished in my pocket for her Poké Ball. A red flash of light brought her back into the capsule. She just wasn't made for the terrain. I'd keep her in until we reached the rest house. "Let's catch up to Opal," I said.

"I want to train along the way~," said Natalie, looking down at her arm-swords dejectedly. "Tons of Snover~. Half grass type, you know~? Easy kills for me~."

Well, i_that_/i sounded depressing. "What's wrong?"

She let out a long sigh. "Look, we all know it's true~. I'm a bug type, and we're not exactly the powerhouses of the Pokémon world~. It's only a matter of time before you Box me~."

"That's not true!" I looked at her, shocked. "Come on, Natalie. I've only known you for a very short time, but it's plain to see your strength, your independence. You? Not a powerhouse? Arceus, you practically ripped Mars's Pokémon limb from limb! You hardly need the practice…"

"She's right, you know," said Juliet abruptly. "We all need to train. Ever since, well, ever since the Uxie incident, we haven't been training. Old you would have had us training our furry butts off."

"What do you think, Juliet~?" asked Natalie. "Five levels each~?"

"Or ten!"

"Five is fine," I interjected hurriedly. "Come on, let's speed up, we're losing Opal, the dumb rabbit."

The snow level began to thin out as we made our way. Even though it was getting colder, the surroundings got prettier, with blue ice coating the surroundings cliffs. Trainers dotted the area- I found my Pokémon team to be adept in all forms of battle, always using the terrain to their advantage. We never lost. I felt rich from all the winnings I collected.

But it was the Snover that were the best part, really. They'd run straight up to me, all wide-eyed and curious.

As the sun- looking like a pale, watery circle through the clouds- arced lower and lower, and we still hadn't reached the rest house, I began to worry. I mean, Opal had tons of energy, but she was in her element. The rest of the team seemed to be tiring.

"I hope we make it soon," I mumbled.

Yet another Snover was picking its way over to us. I, for one, was sick and tired of spending five minutes petting those guys before I could move on. I motioned to Raven. She let loose a battle cry and flapped to the ground.

As soon as the Snover saw her, it attacked with more voracity than I had expected. Raven's 'insomnia' ability blocked the sleep-inducing Grasswhistle move, and she used Psychic.

The Snover staggered. It was within an inch of its health. I grinned, knowing Raven would win. Even though Snover, being part ice type, had an advantage over bird types, Raven was way faster and would defeat Snover before it could even retaliate.

Of course, I didn't expect the move Ice Shard, which, hours later in a grief-filled haze, I was told always went before the opponent.

The pillar of ice was thrust up out of the ground. I vaguely remember a raw shout tearing from my lungs when Raven screamed, the pointed tip piercing her breast. Her feet kicked as she hung, suspended, from the ice.

Juliet tried to jump from my arms, but I pulled her in frantically. I wasn't stupid! "Snover are grass types, too!" I yelled, tears beginning to burn my eyes as Juliet thrashed, yelling and cursing, trying to break my grip.

Opal was turning now; she saw the Snover. She was hopping over. She wouldn't be fast enough. At the same time, Juliet managed to get away by kicking me in the face. On her belly penguin-style, she slid toward the Snover, which was now readying a Razor Leaf attack. Juliet didn't give it the chance, using Drill Peck, but the horrible conditions made her miss. Opal arrived on the scene. I fished for Juliet's Pokéball and returned her just as several razor-sharp leaves pierced the ground where she had just been. At the same time, a gust of wind blew, and Raven fell limply from the ice spear that had her suspended.

Only a few bounds had me at her side, dropping to my knees by her small body. My throat was constricting. "Raven, hold on!" I swung my backpack around and fumbled with the zipper; I had to get to the medicine!

"Roland," she croaked. Hearing her speak shocked me into momentary paralysis. I- I wasn't sure, but I didn't think I'd ever heard her talk, even before the Uxie incident. I stared into her one red eye, and it slowly began to close.

"NO!" In desperation, I grabbed the stone that hung as a necklace from her neck. I recognized it. A Dusk Stone. The item required to put Murkrow's evolution into motion. Maybe, maybe if I could just make her evolve, I could- I could save-

I pressed it to her chest, right on the wound.

For a second, nothing happened, and my heart jumped into my throat, horrible despair clawing at my chest.

Then, she began to glow. I shouted, leaping back in shock and watching the light envelop her, drinking it in with my eyes.

I'd heard that item-evolutions were quicker, more dramatic than natural ones… but I… I never imagined…

Ten torturous seconds passed.

The light receded. Raven was bigger now. She now had gorgeous red tail feathers. She had a crest that resembled a black fedora, and her beak was sharper, more prominent.

"Raven," I breathed, quickly stepping forward and kneeling again. She was so beautiful. She had evolved. She was a Honchkrow! Elation flooded through me.

My eyes closed in sudden, dizzying vertigo. The white plume on her chest was still stained red. She wasn't moving.

Raven's body had been repaired. Even her missing eyes, her mauled wing, were as if they had never been injured in the first place.

But it hadn't been enough to save her life.

-0-

At the rest house, I stares listlessly down, Pokédex cupped in my hands as I slouched in the armchair.

Opal, Mandy, Natalie, and Juliet were crowded around the fire, huddled together with a cup of Poké food each. They weren't eating. The Hikers who stayed permanently in this inn-esque log cabin had noticed my depression. I hadn't responded to them. They quickly learned to leave me alone.

The Pokédex was vibrating. I had put it on silent, not wanting to answer its questions. I was a little mad at it, strangely enough. As soon as I'd returned Raven- her body- to her Pokéball, the Pokédex had automatically teleported it away to the nearest Pokémon Center to be cremated.

I don't know what I wanted with her body, I thought hollowly, closing my eyes. But not that.

It wasn't about the body that the Pokédex was trying to ask me about. It was about the other thing. The… the thing I'd done _after_ her body disappeared. I don't know why I did it. It was breaking the law. I looked at the screen, glancing once more at the blinking words on its surface.

_Nickname_?

I don't know why I caught that Snover! It had killed Raven! It was afraid of us, of how Juliet nearly beat it to death- not fainting- after we realized Raven was gone! And- and it was breaking the rules, to catch a Pokémon that wasn't the first I had met on the route. I just… I just… I had to do it. I don't know why!

I looked up suddenly when I realized another Hiker was approaching me. He was the owner of the rest house, who'd been watching me, concerned, ever since I walked in, but not saying a word.

He clapped his hand on my shoulder. "You look down."

I stared at him. He looked at my sunken eyes.

"You lost a Pokémon, didn't you?" I didn't reply. "Oh. So it was your first. That's unfortunate." He sighed, pulling up a chair and sitting. "Look, son. This is the sad thing. Pokémon die, and that's just how it happens. Battles are rough, and all the more deadly in such a bleak place as this. The life of a Trainer is tough, and not everyone is cut out for it. How many Badges do you have?" I paused, uncertain, but finally showed him my Trainer card. "Five! Five Badges without a single death! Roland, my friend, that's miraculous!" He looked at me with new respect. His eyes softened as he glanced over at my Pokémon. "You must be quite a Trainer. Your Pokémon are very strong, and seem to care about you quite a bit."

"Five Badges," I said out loud, looking at them. Badges were supposed to be battle scars, legends, legacies. I didn't know the story behind any of mine. I suddenly had a strong, piercing urge. I wanted to know all the details about my Badges. I should ask Juliet. With Raven gone… I didn't know what I'd do.

"That means you only have three left to obtain," said the Hiker. "Byron of Canalave, although I hear a man named Riley is currently filling in. Volkner of Sunyshore. And Candace of Snowpoint. Are you going to Snowpoint?"

I told him yes.

"It's not too far from here; you should be fine." He looked down. "Your Pokédex seems to be asking you something, kid." He gave me a smile, patted me on the back, and left.

I looked down at my Pokédex.

_Nickname?_

…I clicked yes.

_Please speak Snover's nickname into the microphone._

"Lauren," I said.

_'Lauren' has been entered into the database./I The screen shut off, and I was about to put it back in my pocket when I noticed something flaky on the back. I turned it over and looked carefully. The words Oak Labs were beginning to peel off, which was strange, to say the least, considering that they were supposed to be laser-inscribed into the plastic itself. Instead, it was… some kind of sticker. Underneath, the words 'Plasma Mart' were carved._

_Not even enough energy left in me to scowl, I shoved the Pokédex into my pocket. I guess I would have cared earlier if the Pokédex had come from some kind of black market- I had heard of Plasma Mart, an illegal underground trading company from Unova. Now it just seemed so unimportant. In light of the day's events._

_By this time tomorrow, we'll be with Professor Rowan in Snowpoint,/I I thought. Loss crawled over me anew. IBut not Raven. Just me, Juliet, Mandy, Opal._

_…And Lauren._

Body Count: 1

* * *

><p><strong>Did anyone guess?<strong>  
><strong>YeahIamahorriblepersonsorry<strong>

**;-; I miss Raven. I don't know why everyone hates the Murkrow line. THE EPICS.**  
><strong>Question of the day- has quality of this nuzlocke gone up or down?<strong>

**No, Lauren wasn't actually an illegal catch, that's plot**

**She actually died vs. Candace at Snowpoint. I did this to make more Lauren-hate (I actually personally love Lauren). I'SAL PLOT**

**Plus I didn't want her to have a cool, vs. Gym Leader death. HER DEATH IS POINTLESSSSS**


	13. Have An Ice Time

Snowpoint City lived up to its name. I was knee-deep in snow and slush at every turn. So when my team and I, ice-encrusted, scratched and dirty and bruised, staggered into Snowpoint's Pokémon Center, we were relieved. To say the least.

There was still a residual ache in my chest from Raven. Raven. I couldn't forget how beautiful she had looked as a Honchkrow- how broken she looked lying in the snow. As we collapsed into the chairs in the lobby, Natalie patted my knee as if she knew what I was thinking about, eyes deep with sadness. Raven had been something of a loner, but Natalie was the one who she got along with best other than me.

I surveyed my team, who had immediately gone to the Pokémon feeding station to get cups of those food pellets. They varied in color according to the element type they were specific to- water types getting blue pellets, fire types red, and so on.

Sadly, I found myself thinking, _We're all devastated by the loss. I don't want to feel this way in my chest, but- I don't want to move on either._

"Where's Professor Rowan?" Juliet asked, coming back over with a paper cup of food held in her flippers (wings?).

"He said to wait here, and he would show up," I answered. She shrugged.

Beside me, I noticed that as Mandy pulled herself up into a chair, several brown pellets fell out of the cup. I picked one up, feeling how moist it was. I squeezed. Springy.

I looked around furtively, curiosity spiking through me. Nobody seemed to be watching. I touched the tip of my tongue to the pellet, and nearly gagged from how nasty it was.

"Roland!" A meaty hand descended on my shoulder; I jumped a mile. "_What_ are you doing, boy?"

It was Professor Rowan, who I recognized from the video chat, looking stern and befuddled at the same time. Dismay and embarrassment flashed through me; I sprung to my feet. "Pro-professor! I, I was…" I trailed off helplessly.

The professor surveyed my Pokémon, and I surveyed him. He seemed to be at least sixty years old, and had a hardness about him that gave me a little shiver. Arceus, I never wanted to get on _his_ bad side.

"Your Pokémon look much stronger, Roland," he said approvingly. "What levels are they now?"

I had no idea, but Juliet piped up, "We're all at or a little over level forty."

"Good, good." He gave a brisk nod. "Now, did you happen to pass the entrance to Acuity Lake on the way here?"

We had. It had been guarded, absolutely crawling with Galactic grunts. I told him so.

"Hm, yes, yes." He looked out the Pokémon Center window. "Well, it's almost nightfall-" I could hardly see through the snow to the sky. "We should be able to sneak in. Are you rested, ready to go?"

We all stared blankly. Their cups of Pokémon food were uneaten in their hands; snow still flecked my clothing.

"Excellent. Let's depart, then." I heard Opal heave an irritated sigh. We stood up to follow him. There wasn't a way to deny him that I could see. He seemed very at ease with issuing orders, and expected to have them followed. I left thinking sadly that he hadn't even noticed Raven's absence.

If anything, the wind knifed through my body even more violently now that I had tasted the warmth of the Pokémon Center. Miserable, Juliet, Natalie, Opal, and I- Mandy was in her Pokéball- traipsed through the snow after the professor. I pulled my scarf tighter around my neck. The pine trees surrounding us looked like Snovers. The thought made me shudder and touch Lauren's Pokéball, looking at the back of the professor's head as if he somehow knew what I had done.

I recognized Lake Acuity's entrance- there was a sign, by some miracle not covered in snow, showing where it was. This time, there were no grunts whatsoever. I stopped, letting out a small groan.

"Does this mean we're too late?" Juliet asked.

"Let's check," said Professor Rowan, motioning us to follow.

The lake seemed undisturbed, but the snow was dirty and trampled by many feet. I felt my stomach dropping. I kicked the ground. I kicked a tree. I kicked a rock and immediately regretted it.

"And we came all the way out here for nothing," I muttered bitterly. I shook my head, crossing my arms.

"No we didn't," snapped Opal, hopping up to me. Her face was grim. "If we trekked through miles of snow and Raven… well, and _it_ happened, we aren't leaving empty handed. There is a Gym in Snowpoint."

"Then we'll challenge it," I said, clenching my fists, gritting my teeth. Anger flared through me, hotter than Heatran flame, warming me from the inside out. If I didn't have something to take it out on, I'd- I'd- "We'll win."

Professor Rowan patted my shoulder. "You go on back to Snowpoint. Thank you for accompanying me. I want to, hm, stay around here a little longer and investigate further. By the way, how is your Pokédex coming along? Don't neglect it due to a little thing like amnesia. It is very important, essential, even, that you finish it."

"He will~," Natalie assured hastily, ushering me away. "Now, goodbye~." She shot him a dirty glance, as if she blamed him for us coming up here, for Raven's death. They really ought to blame me instead. It was my fault, after all, and if it weren't for my memory, if I were 'Real Roland,' I'd have known what to do. It would not have happened.

It occurred to me that Professor Rowan hadn't asked me any questions about the strange occurrences that had been going on; he didn't have one inquiry about what happened at Lake Valor. And I didn't think to ask him about the black market Pokédex until we were already at the Snowpoint City Gym.

-0-

The Gym's floor was entirely ice. Even though I didn't remember any of the learned nuances of Pokémon battling, I knew terrain was a big part of it, and that floor would give Candace the advantage. Gym Leader Candace wore pale blue clothing; a thick jacket and a rather tiny skirt. Her dark hair dangled in long braids.

"You have rather tropical hair for an arctic Gym Leader," I noted to her, still brittle and angry for no particular reason.

She smirked. "You're being rather icy to me. That's cool, but you need to chill. I can help- my Pokémon will freeze you out!"

We stared. She seemed to be utterly serious.

The first thing she sent out was a Snover. I winced, as if physically struck. Natalie went out onto the field. The Snover Leered, but Natalie used Bug Buzz, making the strangest high pitched noise. It reeled, and she sprung at it, cutting it with X-Scissor. It fell to the ground. Candance gaped.

"Okay… that bug type is rather brrrrave. You did an ice job- but let's see if you really get my drift!" She chucked a Pokéball. Out came a Sneasel. Natalie nodded to Opal; they tagged out.

The Sneasel was much faster than Opal, Slashing at her and Taunting. Opal sneered, using a single Jump Kick to take it out.

Candace frowned. "Icy you're a great Trainer! But let's cut the chatter and get on to my next avalanche of attacks." She sent out a Medicham, which Juliet demolished with Drill Peck.

"Well, it seems I have only one more Pokémon. That chills me to the bone. I'm not going to go down easily- hail no! Here it comes!"

It was an Abomasnow, according to the Pokédex. Huge. Snover's evolution, apparently. Although I felt bad, I couldn't help but think that it would make a great powerhouse. I touched Lauren's Pokéball before nodding for the battle to continue. Natalie took the stage with a solemn expression. Abomasnow had the same typing as a Snover, but it was much stronger. It would give her some difficulty. So she decided to put it to sleep first.

"Summertime, and the living is easy~ Fish are jumping, and the cotton is high~ Oh, your daddy's rich and you're momma's good looking~ So hush, little baby, don't you-"

I had not heard Natalie sing before, at least, not since the amnesia. I'll admit. I was transfixed. Her voice was gorgeous- kind of raspy, but sweet. The charm was slightly taken away, seeing as Abomasnow did not take to the lullaby and threw her halfway across the room with Wood Hammer. She cried out. I returned her to her Pokéball. I would not let her take another hit like that!

But the question was, who else on my team _could?_ Mandy and Juliet were out; they had severe weaknesses. Opal was tired.

Without my permission, Lauren's Pokéball sprung open. I stared, wide eyed. Then I fumbled for her Pokéball to draw her back in.

She had murdered Raven.

The thought made me falter. Wouldn't I get some satisfaction out of seeing her killed by Abomasnow, three times her size?

I shook my head. Why was I even thinking like that? I grabbed for the Pokéball, but looked up in surprise, after hearing Abomasnow cry out.

Tons of tiny ice needles were sticking out of its chest- Ice Shard, the same move that did Raven in! The little Snover seemed determined to win. A high whistle rang out as she rubbed her leaves together. The move Grasswhistle sent the Abomasnow straight to sleep. Then Lauren went to _town_ on it. Ice Shard, Razor Leaf, the works.

Then the Abomasnow woke up. I knew it was over.

With a roar, an avalanche tumbled throughout the Gym; snow obscured everything. I coughed. As the whiteness settled, I saw Lauren, near dead. I had to return her! But she knew what I was going to do, and used Ingrain. It healed her. But even worse, the roots she burrowed into the floor would keep me from trying to bring her back.

She was trying to win her Trainer's approval.

The Abomasnow swung at her, but she dodged it. Ice Shard hit it in the legs, in the arms- razor-sharp leaves peppered its chest.

It swayed. It fell.

Candace nodded her brisk approval as she took back her fainted Pokémon. Lauren withdrew her roots- a flash of red light, and she was immediately sucked back into her Pokéball. I wouldn't let her cause trouble again.

"I'm warming up to you, Roland," she said. We shook hands, and she pressed the Icicle Badge into my palm. She smiled. "Good job."

I headed back to the Pokémon Center, which was, luckily, near the Gym itself. I didn't have too far to walk to get there. Opal and everyone were in their Pokéballs, but I carried Juliet like always.

"I would think a Gym Leader would be angry to be defeated," I remarked.

Juliet shrugged. "Sometimes. Crasher Wake was- you _killed_ his Floatzel. But the majority of the girls mostly just hit on you. Even Fantina." I looked at her in shock. She giggled and nodded. "It's true. As for Candace, well, I think she'd sooner kick you in your _snowballs_ than kiss you." I snorted with laughter, nearly dropping her. By the time we entered the Center, I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe, and for a second I could ignore the Raven-shaped hole in my chest.

Then I saw Professor Rowan waiting expectantly in the lobby and my heart plummeted. He always seemed to bring bad news.

"Roland," he said, walking up and putting a hand on my shoulder (this made me shiver a little, and not from cold). "Are you one for revenge?"

I paused, uncertain. A trick question? "If it's about Raven, she was actually-"

"It's about Team Galactic." His lips curled into a slight smile, and he asked, "What would you say if I told you I knew the location of their headquarters?"

Body Count: 1


End file.
